GREENFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — A Greenfield 10-year-old’s death was ruled a suicide by the Hancock County Coroner’s Office, according to a Greenfield Police Department statement released Friday.

Sammy Teusch was a fourth grade student at Greenfield Intermediate School. He died May 5 at his home after he was relentlessly physically and mentally bullied at school, according to his father.

His dad says his family had reported the bullying to the school countless times.

“He is gone,” his father, Sam Tuesch, said on Friday. “He is not here anymore, and I fight it every 15 seconds when I think he is going to rush down the stairs.”

News 8 also sat down with his dad right after his funeral earlier in May. He recounted the moments leading up to when he found his son in his bedroom upstairs. The two had just finished making pancakes. 

He says that, following Sammy’s death, their family received the same statement the school sent out to all parents. The statement claimed the school had not received any reports of bullying from the family while Sammy was a student, according to Sam Teusch.

Almost a month later, police confirmed in their statement that Sammy had experienced bullying inside and outside of school.

“Through our investigation the child did encounter some bullying at school, school records show these incidents were addressed,” their statement said. “It was also found that bullying was taking place outside the school and sometimes in a place where the child should have felt safest.”

In a Friday interview, police said the parents are not at fault for bullying in the home. 

Police say Sammy could have been experiencing bullying on the school bus, in his neighborhood, or various other places outside of school, too. 

Inside of school, police say, they “believe he encountered some rough times at school.”

Sam Teusch sat down with News 8 again after police released their statement. He said the statement marks the first time their bullying reports have been acknowledged after the school said they had not received reports.

“Why did they lie? Why did they bold face lie? Not come to our house and offer condolences, anything like that, they just instantly said, ‘This was never done,’” Sam Tuesch said. 

The school released its own statement on Friday afternoon in reference to the police’s release.

“Today the Greenfield Police Department (GPD) completed their investigation into the tragic death of Sammie Teusch. While the investigation was active, we have refrained from public comments to provide an objective environment for the police detectives and to allow the community to grieve. We have reviewed GPD’s statement, whose findings are consistent with the information gleaned from Greenfield-Central’s internal investigation. Aside from directory information, student records are protected by the Family Educational Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA). Therefore, we cannot address many of the specific items related to this matter. Greenfield-Central takes all bullying concerns very seriously. We have provided and will continue to provide a safe environment for students in our schools.”

Mental health resources

• Be Well Indiana
• Indiana Suicide Prevention
• Indiana Department of Child Services’ Children’s Mental Health Initiative
• National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988 or 800-273-8255
• More resources