Erdenheim, Pa. – An 11th-grader despondent that his parents might curtail his after-school activities because of poor grades took a rifle to school Tuesday and killed himself between classes in a hallway, authorities said.
The gunman, Shane Joseph Halligan, 16, had no intention of hurting anyone else at Springfield Township High School, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said.
Halligan was an Eagle Scout and a volunteer firefighter whose poor grades had led his parents on Monday to threaten to cut back on his after-school activities, Castor said.
On Tuesday morning, he ate breakfast with his family. At some point, he retrieved the rifle from a locked cabinet and found high-powered ammunition in the basement, Castor said.
The boy fired shots into the ceiling in the science-wing hallway after first period, said Michael Delaurentis, who was about 30 feet away.
“I was walking to my class,” said Delaurentis, who turned 18 on Tuesday. “I just heard ‘Get down.’ I heard shots fired into the ceiling and I saw smoke.”
A security camera showed the boy taking the gun out of a bag and shooting into the ceiling, said Randall D. Hummel, the township police chief. Students in the hallway scrambled for cover, and the teenager walked to another hallway out of view, then shot himself, Hummel said.
Halligan left a note for his family, but authorities did not disclose its contents.
