Full story: Bullied to death

STEUBEN — It's a day the Hershiser family will never forget.Anna Hershiser remembers April 2 as a typical Sunday. The family got ice cream and watched TV together at home.She went to bed by about 8 p.m., a daily routine. Her husband, Robert, came upstairs around 8:50 p.m. Bedtime for the Hershiser children — Caleb, 14, and Kendall, 12 — is 9 p.m."My husband said he texted Caleb to go to bed," Anna said.Shortly after, Robert heard a noise; a "pop." "He went to our daughter Kendall's room and asked her 'did you hear that?' "At first he didn't think anything of it," Anna said.WATCH: In her own words, Caleb's mom talks with the RegisterRobert went downstairs and found his son on the floor, thinking he was sleeping."He nudged Caleb and said 'time to go to bed,'" Anna said.When Robert rolled him over, he realized what happened.He ran upstairs to tell Anna, who ran to help Caleb so fast she injured herself."I don't remember falling and breaking my foot," she said during an interview with the Register on Tuesday at her in-laws' home. The family had been staying there since her son died. After seeing Caleb on the floor, Anna rushed back upstairs to get her phone and call 911. The dispatcher asked her to check for Caleb's pulse and see if he was breathing, but there were no signs of life.She remembers hearing Kendall and her husband's anguished screams.Caleb was well informed about gun safety. He'd used his own hunting weapon to take his life. Caleb Hershiser is pictured with his sister KendallHorrifiedSoon, two Willard police officers arrived at their home, which is in Willard, along with first responders. "They asked, 'why, do you think he did that?' We told them he'd been bullied," Anna said. She told the Register her son had been picked on all through his school years. She attempted to talk with him about it many times, and help him process and develop ways to respond to the different situations that happened. But he was reluctant to complain and it was difficult. She remembers — and has so much gratitude for the emergency responders — who tried to revive Caleb for more than 40 minutes."They worked on my baby for so long. He was already gone. They got something, my gratitude is to them. They didn't want him to be pronounced in the house," Anna said. "They worked to get a heartbeat and they did."But it wasn't enough.Caleb Hershiser, left, receives a kiss from his mother Anna. Police confiscated Caleb's gun, his phone and a note he'd left stating the names of his three school friends he wanted at his funeral. Willard Police Chief Mark Holden hasn't returned calls or responded to questions from the Register about whether bullying was a factor in Caleb's decision to take his own life. In reply to one email, he told the Register he would send the report of the investigation to the prosecutor after it was finished, but he couldn't say when that would be.The chief told the Norwalk Reflector, however, that his detectives had conducted extensive interviews with anyone who had contact with Caleb and there was no indication bullying was involved."That seems to be the catch phrase being brandied around right now," Holden told the Reflector, but that did not appear to be true. Holden said one student, in particular, had been identified as a possible tormenter, but the student had been cleared. Anna said she did not know who that student might be. Police haven't talked with the family since the April 2, she said, but they don't know the names of any particular students who might have been bullying Caleb. It's unclear why Holden intends to ask the prosecutor to review the investigative report, which becomes a public record once the investigation is finished. The Register has asked for a copy of the report once the investigation is completed. There's been considerable response at social media, in letters to the editor and calls to the Register since Holden was quoted in the Reflector from some district families contending the school district does not do enough to protect students who are bullied. One district resident said some parents were planning a protest, but police threatened to arrest parents if they protested on school property.Chief Holden has refused to say whether parents were threatened in that way. Willard Schools superintendent Jeff Ritz was not aware anyone had been threatened."This is the first I have ever heard of any protest," he wrote in a response to the Register after a followup news article published in the Register on Thursday. Ritz, initially declined to respond to an inquiry from the Register, but did provide a general response to questions last week about bullying at the schools. "We must investigate all accusations, if it is determined that there was bullying involved we must send the victim's parents/victim a letter stating that they were bullied, and we must send the bully a cease and desist order," he said. "There may be other punishments as well depending on the severity."Our goal is to stop the behavior from repeating," Ritz continued. "Education is very important. This may include counseling of both the victim and/or the bully and it may include discipline up to and including expulsion."In a letter to the editor last week, Ritz said he was working with city officials, religious leaders and civic organizations to plan a community forum to talk about how to prevent bullying, which he called an "awful epidemic." Bully bullyAnna Hershiser told the Register Caleb had been bullied all his life. She recalls one recent incident when Caleb came home with his glasses broken in half."I asked how it happened and Caleb told me one of the boys in gym class threw a ball at his face," she said. "I've been to the school several times this year and complained."School officials investigated a 2015 incident she told them about after she was able to get Caleb to talk. He told her about being shoved around in a school hallway by bullies. The school confirmed it happened by viewing video captured by surveillance cameras at the school, and they told her the students who acted like bullies that day had been counseled and disciplined. Caleb did have a few friends and was taken under the wing of guidance counselor and former sixth grade teacher Dave Hirschy, Anna said.Caleb Hershiser stands with his sister Kendall. "There are a lot of good teachers, good students (in Willard Schools). A lot of them have comforted my family and me," she said.In addition to her daughter Kendall, a Willard Schools student, the Hershiser family includes Ryan Hershiser, 24, and Dominic Cummings, 21. Both brothers intend to share Caleb's story to raise awareness, Anna said.Her family isn't vengeful toward anyone, she said. They just want the district to develop better ways to deal with bullying so other families don't experience the same tragedy."As a school district and community, we have to step up and protect our children," Anna said. "I want (police and school officials) to open their eyes."Read more: Caleb Hershiser[toutembed=qfly89]Reach reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com, follow her on Twitter @CaitlinNearhood and on Facebook www.facebook.com/CaitliNearhoodAnna Hershiser, mother of Caleb, looks out the window after an interview at a home in Steuben on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Caleb was a 14-year-old Willard Middle School student who took his own life in his home on April 2. Some parents said they believed Caleb had been bullied.