BOSTON,Mass
A teacher at Fitchburg High School died suddenly Friday morning after breaking up a fight between two students which had erupted outside his classroom, and both teens have been arrested following the melee, authorities said.
The teacher, identified by the Worcester County District Attorney's office as Douglas Vaughn Lloyd, 65, of Ashburnham, was said to be a popular, longtime instructor who apparently had a heart attack about 7:30 a.m. after breaking up the fight between a male and female student who were dating.
Lloyd, who worked at Mount Wachusett Community College, was taken to HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster, where he later died, police said.
The medical examiner's office is also performing an investigation, Early said.
"The best information we have at this point is that (Lloyd) was not hit by the students but there was a physical confrontation. There were people on the ground, they pulled one student off another student. He was involved in that. He was involved in restraining the male student," Early said.
One student said the fight Lloyd stopped was between a male and a female student who had been dating and who were arguing outside his third-floor classroom. Early confirmed that Lloyd intervened in a fight between a pair of students in the hall and then later collapsed in a classroom.
Several students described Lloyd as "a very nice guy," who tried to intervene when the 16-year-olds began verbally fighting and hitting each other.
"They fight a lot," said a female student who identified herself as Krysten Jordan.
She said the students were fighting when the teacher, who worked on the campus helping students improve their MCAS scores, "came out of nowhere and tried to split 'em up, and there was hitting and yelling involved, and verbal abuse and ... he just wasn't feeling too good after they split up and he collapsed."
There was no indication that Lloyd may have been ill, she said.
"He seemed very healthy to me," the sophomore said.
Another student said the situation in the school was "very sad," and teachers inside were crying.
"There's a lot of sadness and mourning. People are trying to handle it," student Nadia Ducos said.
Students who wanted to leave the school early were allowed to go.
The school's commencement ceremonies were scheduled for Friday evening and officials said they would take place at Crocker Field.
"For 400 graduating students, this is the most important day of their lives, and it's a day that they will only have an opportunity to experience once," the Fitchburg Schools Superintendent Andre R. Ravenelle said.
Revenelle said Lloyd "has been an integral part of the school," and will be missed.
