Firefighters cover the vehicle that was driven into Lincoln High School yesterday before taking it away.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

LINCOLN — A teacher’s aide died yesterday when his car burst into flames after he crashed into an entrance at Lincoln High School about an hour after classes ended.

Jay D. Paul was the driver of the car, according to parents, students and other witnesses who gathered at the scene.

Police Chief Brian Sullivan refused to name the victim, saying the driver had not been positively identified because the body was so badly burned. An autopsy is scheduled for today, he said. No students were injured.

State records show the license plate on the scorched vehicle registered to Jay D. Paul, 34, of Cumberland.

And Police Sgt. Brian Gould was posted last night at 3 Old Jenckes Hill Rd., Lincoln, the home of Jay’s father, Dr. Biswa Paul. Gould said he was acting as a spokesman for the family and that they did not wish to speak.

Senior Alex Kay said Paul was taking notes for a classmate in his last-period pre-calculus class when the aide was called to the principal’s office over the public-address system. Paul appeared to get nervous after the announcement, he said.

Around 2:30 p.m., another student saw principal Kevin McNamara and assistant principal Charlotte Tavares reprimanding Paul.

Minutes later, Lynn Pitochelli watched a blue station speed toward the building and smash into what was the old middle school entrance near the gym.

“I thought, what kid is speeding in this parking lot?” said Pitochelli, who was picking up her son at the time. “An hour earlier, kids would have been here.”

She ran about 20 feet toward the car as a staff member tried to open the driver’s side door but backed away in shock. The car, which was lodged halfway inside the entrance, then burst into flames.

A fire alarm immediately sounded, sending students, including her son Jake, outside for the second time that day. (There had been a fire drill earlier in the day.) Heavy black smoke surrounded the car.

Junior Alexandra Caluori said she was near the front doors of the school waiting for a tennis match when the alarm went off.

“I smelled gasoline. By the time I saw [the car] it was in the building,” Calouri said. “I saw the car in flames. It was like ‘Oh, my God.’ It was like a nightmare. I thought there was going to be an explosion.”

She ran to tell the football team.

The Fire Department and police were quick to respond. Authorities stayed into the evening, roping the area off as a crime scene and inspecting the burnt vehicle. The body was removed from the car around 4:30 and taken to the state medical examiner’s office. The car was hauled away on a flatbed truck, leaving behind the charred shell of the vestibule.

A structural engineer will inspect the damage this weekend and determine whether it will be safe to open the school — which has 1,100 students — Monday morning, schools Supt. Georgia Fortunato said. All weekend activities at the high school have been canceled.

Though authorities released few details, hundreds of onlookers had much to say about Paul and the circumstances surrounding his death.

Students described him as a “scribe” who helped a broad range of students, from those with a broken arm to those with more permanent special needs.

About 5 feet 5 inches tall with combed-over hair heavily matted down, Paul always wore a suit. A Wheeler School graduate who lived alone in Cumberland, Paul carried an overstuffed backpack and occasionally a walking cane, students said. He was said to wear thick glasses and gloves.

Paul, who had been at the school for at least two years, kept to himself and was obsessed with cleanliness, according to junior Christine Alberto, 16.

Adam Chapian, a football player, said Paul had taken notes for him last year.

“He was quiet. He was really nice,” he said.

Paul kept a detailed journal that he carried around with him at all times, he said. “I asked him, ‘Why do you write in your journal all the time?’ ” Chapian said. “He told me he was bullied in high school. He wrote down everything.”

He said he had seen Jay yesterday in the library helping a student with a neck brace. “I never thought he would do something like that,” he said.

Alberto said she could not believe that Jay was gone. “It’s crazy. I can’t put it into words.”

With reports from staff writers John Hill, Philip Marcelo, and Tatiana Pina.

kmulvane@projo.com