Students, teachers and parents at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac are mourning the loss of a 16-year-old basketball player who killed himself this week, joining a growing number of youths who commit suicide each year.

Suicide accounts for roughly 16 percent of deaths among people between 15 and 24 years old, making it the third most common cause of death for that age group behind accidents and homicide, according to the American Association of Suicidology. In 2010, the most recent year for which there is data, 4,600 youths between ages 15 and 24 committed suicide, as did an additional 267 youths between ages 10 and 14.