Body found near W. Chester school

A passerby walking a dog discovered the body of a man hanging in a West Chester park near a school Monday morning, police said.

Police received a call around 6:50 a.m. about a white male hanging from a swing set in Marshall Square Park near Henderson High School.

Police said the man lived in the West Chester area, but declined Monday afternoon to identify him or give his age, pending notification of his family. The death appears to have been a suicide, Detective Bob Kuehn said.

West Chester Area School District officials got a call from police around 7 a.m. about the body, Superintendent Jim Scanlon said.

The district rerouted school buses to avoid the area while police investigated. Monday was the first day of classes after the holiday break.

"We did have some high school and middle school buses go through there before 7 a.m., and some high school students driving to Henderson may have witnessed the police activity," Scanlon said in an email to parents shortly after 11:30 a.m. Monday.

Counselors have been available for students who want to talk about what they saw, he said.

Matthew Rose was driving his 15-year-old son to school around 7:30 a.m. when he saw the man hanging. He estimated the swing set was no more than 50 feet from the road, and said police had the scene roped off.

"Right at the corner at the end of the park, there was a whole group of kids waiting for a bus," Rose said, adding that they were middle school students. "I'm hoping they didn't see anything."

Buses usually pick up middle school students around that time, he said.

Rose said he did not think his son saw the man hanging.

Rose's 18-year-old daughter, however, did see the body. She and her friends, Rose said, saw it from their school bus. They were crying when they got to the high school, he said.

Rose, who was a firefighter in Lower Merion for several years, said the man was dressed in dark clothing, and had dark hair and a beard.

mbond@philly.com

610-313-8207@MichaelleBond