Police found Boston University College of Arts and Sciences student Patrick Doherty dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound last month near his hometown in Alaska, police officials said.
Doherty, who would have entered his sophomore year in the fall, was found June 17 on a beach near Ketchikan, Ala., according to the Alaska State Troopers.
That morning, Doherty had allegedly sent his friend a text message saying that Doherty was ‘below’ his vehicle and his friend should contact police, according to state troopers. The message led police to believe Doherty had perhaps crashed his car and become trapped beneath the vehicle, according to state troopers.
Police contacted the local fire department, which then searched for a car accident on the beach, the Ketchikan Daily News reported. When the fire department failed to locate a car crash, it contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, which found a body on the beach and later identified it as Doherty, according to the Daily News.
Doherty’s car, undamaged, was located on a dirt lot above the beach, according to state troopers.
BU officials were unable to comment at press time. ‘