Hundreds gathered outside the Greensburg Courthouse for a candlelight vigil to remember 15-year-old Billy Lucas.

By Tisha Lewis Fox59
Greensburg, Ind. —

Hundreds gathered outside the Greensburg Courthouse for a candlelight vigil to remember 15-year-old Billy Lucas.

Lucas reportedly hung himself last week after friends say he was the target of continual bullying at Greensburg High School.

“They called him dumb, they called him gay and what else I’ve said.  They pushed him into lockers and hit him and pulled his hair and tripped him all the time, ” said best friend Bryce Thacker in an interview with Fox 59’s Tisha Lewis.

Thacker said he was constantly defending Lucas, until he too was threatened for defending what Thacker says bullies described as “the gay boy.”

“He came here in fourth grade and he was harassed from the time he was in fourth grade and on…” said former classmate Bobbi Guinlan.

Friends and complete strangers held fliers reading, “It’s because of people in school who pretended they knew nothing and did nothing to help stop it.”

According to Guinlan, “We organized this to show how important it is because we don’t feel like our school corporations are doing anything about bullying really.”

Several parents describe a “culture of bullying” within the Greensburg School District.

The principal at Greensburg High School where Lucas attended says the school was not aware the 15 year old was a victim, though several parents dispute that assertion.

Fox 59 News has learned the school is “looking to establish a committee to address bullying” concerns, according to administrators.