14-year-old shoots self in N.H. school cafeteria

An unidentified student is comforted outside Walpole Elementary School in Walpole, N.H. on Feb. 10, 2012. / AP Photo/Matthew Cavanaugh

WALPOLE, N.H. - A 14-year-old shot himself in the face in a New Hampshire elementary school cafeteria filled with dozens of students eating lunch, officials said Friday.

The teen, identified by a relative and fellow students as Hunter Mack, was hospitalized after shooting himself around 11 a.m. at Walpole Elementary School in southwestern New Hampshire. Police locked down the school for several hours, but no one else was injured.

"Our hearts go out to the family of this young man and our thoughts go out to all of the students that were in the school at this time," Cheshire County Attorney Peter Heed said at a news conference. He did not say what kind of gun the student used or where he might have obtained it. He also did not offer any information on why the student shot himself.

As of Friday afternoon, the student was in serious condition in the intensive care unit.

"We're all just waiting to hear about our little boy," said Cindy Mack, whose cousin is the boy's father. "He's a wonderful little boy. He's an avid hunter, like his name. He is very smart. He won prizes at school. He shot his first deer last year. He's a great, great kid."

Ethan Symonds, a seventh-grader who was sitting at a table near the boy in the cafeteria, said he heard something "a little bit louder than a chip bag popping." He said he did a double-take, saw blood, and ran.

Seventy of the school's approximately 170 students were in the cafeteria at the time. Nick Phillips, an eighth-grader in the student's home room, said he had been passing notes during the week saying he was depressed, but it wasn't clear why.

Parents received automated calls about the lockdown at about 1 p.m. They were allowed to come to the school to pick up their children, some of whom were interviewed by police.

"The state of New Hampshire is offering whatever assistance it can to the community, along with all of our thoughts and prayers," Gov. John Lynch said in a statement.

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N.H. teen shoots self in school cafeteria

Walpole, a town of about 3,000, is several miles from the Vermont state line and about 15 miles northwest of Keene.

Walpole Elementary School, which includes grades 5-8, is one of five schools that recently began participating in an experiment aimed at reducing bullying and meanness in New Hampshire schools.

The Courage to Care curriculum, developed at the University of New Hampshire, includes videos, activities and games emphasizing empathy, caring for others, understanding power, courage and being respectful in cyberspace. Half of the seventh graders in each participating school are enrolled in the program initially, while the other half serve as control groups to compare the curriculum's effects.

[rwsmith29456]

A desperate cry for help. Well, that did get everybody's attention, didn't it? I think that for people that need crisis intervention they feel so isolated from everybody else that they don't seek or accept help even when offered. I like to know how he acted in the last few weeks, whether he was especially moody or even happier than usual. I feel very sorry for him, at least he didn't hurt anybody else.

[goodadvice]

Of the 17 comments not by me above, all deny the ability of the law to prevent gun violence. That sort of denial is what caused the jet hijackings leading to 911 in New York and Washington. Wake up politicos and citizens of New England! You can do something about gun violence. All those unhinged NRA people out there forget conveniently that the constitution is not the old testament and written in stone. Change something. Tax ammo. Tax the NRA out of existence. Get people elected who have the guts to stand up to the gun people. Ask why we can't require military training for anyone owning a modern weapon? Or any gun. Better yet, require five years of military service as a requirement for gun ownership.

[vissionquest]

So that 18 crazy people get together to attack the government with violence, is the reson we want everyone to own a gun? I am not really anti-gun, but if i really thought that your arguement was the feeling of the NRA I work very hard to get rid of guns.

[Fatesrider]

mecanik-2009, are you retarded? Never mind, I'll just assume you're grossly misinformed about the actual history of MY country (since you didn't bother to learn about YOURS).

I won't go into a history lesson here, and explain how the statements of the founding fathers have been taken utterly out of context. But you should actually read the second amendment. Here, I'll make it easy for you (since you obviously haven't held a cogent, unprompted opinion since you figured out for yourself that peeing in your pants was uncomfortable and are too mentally lazy to look it up yourself):

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

In short, Sherlock, the amendment was written to DEFEND THE UNITED STATES, not act as a "balance the power". The U.S. government has NEVER ONCE been held in check because the citizenry was armed. In fact, today, the federal government has much bigger, better guns than anything you might bring out and most likely can use them better than you. If you think an armed citizenry has ever done anything for this country than get more than a million Americans killed (Most since 1960), you're sadly mistaken. (FYI, because I know you're going to say it, the Japanese never wanted a protracted war with the United States because they didn't have the resources to fight it - not because the U.S. had an "armed citizenry". Hell, the revolutionary war would have been LOST if we hadn't had help from France. Our "citizen soldiers" were all ready to give up several times if we had to go it alone.)

God, do you let the NRA and right-wing do ALL of your thinking for you? What you just wrote could be interpreted as SEDITION (Look THAT one up for yourself, you lazy ass). "Back in the day" the government that got out of control WASN'T OURS TO ELECT!

Given your bias and apparent willingness to use violence to impose your will on others by usurping the government, and the multitudes who will oppose any attempt to usurp the lawfully elected government of the United States, who's the tyrant and who's the patriot?

[goodadvice]

According to the FBI in Washington, every 58 minutes in 2009 someone in the USA was murdered by a gun: Either a handgun, or a rifle, or a shotgun, or some other unknown type of firearm. This statistic ignores the numerous wounded who may survive only to be subjected to months of recovery or those with spinal injuries whose lives are shattered forever.??About 250,000 people are living with Spinal Cord Injury in the USA. Of those about 13% are a result of gunshot wounds according to the American Medical Association. That's 32,500 people who may be paraplegic by gunshot and confined to wheelchairs or sometimes they may be quadraplegics by gunshot and cannot care for themselves at all. In the most extreme cases care would be provided for the rest of their lives by their families or possibly through state and federal crime victim funds.??The human sorrow from gunshot violence cannot be measured. The medical cost of treating gunshot injuries is multiple billions of dollars every year. All these costs are born usually by local governments. To recoup some of the costs, we can tax ammunition. We can legally and rightfully do this. ??The gun people certainly will scream at any tax on ammunition. But the gun people have always clearly known the price of everything, and the value of nothing.??When are the elected representatives going to get some guts and some brains about weapons and how they must be controlled? We do not live in the times of muskets and black powder any more.

[Willbill459]

Firearms rights have been expanded over last several years, and more citizens are now free to carry firearms in more places. Yet, homicides, including homicides with firearms, as well as all other violent crime have been decreasing since 2006. Moreover, after a dramatic increase in firearms sales and ownership after the last Presidential election including an increase in first time firearms purchases and an increase in firearms carry permits, gun ban groups and zealot predicted that there would be a corresponding increase in murders. However, the U.S. homicide rate decreased from 5.0 per 100,000 in 2009 to 4.8 per 100,000 in 2010.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl08.xls

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10tbl01.xls

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10tbl01a.xls

Furthermore, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control there were 613 deaths from accidental gunshot wounds in 2007 from firearms which was less than two per day nationwide and down 29 from 2006. This is the most recent data from the CDC.
Compare these numbers to accidental deaths by Burns 3,375, Drowning 3,443, Falls 22,631, Poisoning 29,864, and Traffic Accident 42.031.
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html
2008 non-fatal injuries from firearms 17,215, Burns 400,032, Drowning/Near Drown 5,127, Falls 8,551,037, Poisoning 732,316, and All Transportation 4,156,759.
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/nfirates2001.html

[IEtOut]

How does killing a deer make you a good kid? Now he and his family know how the deer and the deer's family felt.

[livingtxlife]

I hope you are kidding.

[jasperlily]

If killing a creature together is "a wholesome and wonderful way a father and son can share time together" I pity the poor son. Must be a generational thing - good ole boys. I prefer the fathers and sons who volunteer at the animal shelters and refuges.

[longtree-2009]

not unusual for a teen to be suicidal or think of suicide during the tough teen years. depends a great deal on home life, acceptance at school, self-esteem, a support system of some kind. wonder if the boy has a mother in the picture as there is no mention of her, just his father. any siblings? life is tough for a teen crossing from boy to young man or from girl to young woman.

[debbie1120]

OMG! Prayers to this boy and his fellow students who had to witness this horrific ordeal.

[PourpaixPourpaix]

This clown didn't do nothing that I didn't think about on an hourly basis at that age.

[SUZAMBA]

How sad!