Teen’s shooting of friend probed by police

Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont.

Authorities are considering whether to bring criminal charges against a Montana 17-year-old who fired a bullet through his bedroom window, killing his friend in a case an investigator has described as an accident.

The unidentified suspect had been startled when 15-year-old Mackeon Schulte and another friend knocked on his window early Sunday, Billings Police Capt. John Bedford said.

The alarmed teen grabbed a revolver, described as a family heirloom, and shot through the glass, striking Schulte in the head, Bedford said.

Police are investigating the shooting as a homicide, but it will be up to prosecutors to decide on charges. Bedford said the suspect was not considered a danger, and criminal charges could run the risk of “compounding a horrible situation.”

“We’re not going to rush to judgment,” he said. “There’s enough damage that’s already been done.”

Prosecutors are planning a lengthy review, Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said.

Montana law recognizes three types of homicide – deliberate, mitigated and negligent – and all three likely will be options for prosecutors, Andrew King-Ries, associate dean at the University of Montana School of Law, said.

“When you shoot a gun, you’re probably aware there’s a risk,” King-Ries said. “If you can establish negligence, it’s not an accident.”

Bedford said authorities were considering negligent- homicide charges. “You don’t necessarily have to have intent,” he said. “Was this young man negligent in not identifying his target before firing the gun?”