A recent graduate of the University of Georgia at Athens shot himself at ground zero in New York City on Saturday morning, according to authorities.Athens resident and University employee Andrew Veal, 25, was found inside the reconstruction area of the former World Trade Center, on top of a structure housing subway lines. A worker in a nearby hotel spotted someone who seemed to be sleeping inside the site, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
No suicide note was found, but authorities discovered a gunshot wound to his head and the weapon at the location.
"It's apparently a suicide," Coleman said. "There was a shotgun found at the body."
Coleman said New York authorities, who were also working with Athens police, are looking into possible reasons for the suicide, as well as how Veal got into the heavily fenced site.
Veal, who was engaged, was a project coordinator at the Survey Research Center at UGA, a branch of the Institute for Behavioral Research. He oversaw 25 to 30 employees who conduct telephone surveys for state and nonprofit organizations.
He graduated from UGA with a degree in sociology, but was not a student at the present time, friends said.
Mary Ann Mauney, research coordinator at the center and Veal's supervisor, said no one knows why Veal took his life, but "I do think he chose the location for a purpose."
He also worked at an Athens restaurant as a cook. A vegetarian, Veal had plans to attend culinary school, said Leigh Hall, a UGA grad student and employee. He was "very liberal" and interested in politics, she said.
Already graduated, but not a student any more? Whoa! Who'd of guessed that.
that just sounds funny. Do you think this is one of the guys we saw in d/t Athens beating the drum and chanting to get rid of Bush?