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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — School offers counseling following third suicide on reservation in recent weeks.

Mescalero School has established a crisis center following the third suicide in a little more than a monthy on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, the Ruidoso News reported.

Two deaths occurred in the past week in separate, apparently unrelated incidents involving a 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, according to the News. Police said another man died of suicide last month, the paper reported.

A mother whose child attends the school told the paper that school officials were trying to provide counseling for any child who knew the deceased or was impacted by the news of their deaths.

New Mexico consistently ranks in the nation’s top five states for its suicide rate, which is 1.5 to 2 times the national average, according to the New Mexico Suicide Prevention Coalition.

And suicide is the ninth leading cause of death for New Mexicans, the News said.