Student shoots himself at school near Philadelphia

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A 16-year-old student worried that poor grades would lead his parents to cut his after-school activities brought a rifle to school and killed himself between classes in a school hallway, authorities said. The gunman, Shane Joseph Halligan, 16, had no intention of hurting anyone else in the 9 a.m. (1400 GMT) shooting 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. "The picture that's emerging is he was despondent over (the fact) his grades are down, his parents are taking appropriate steps to limit extracurricular activities to get the grades up, and he saw the things that he felt were important in his life being taken from him," Castor said.