A preliminary investigation determined an early morning shooting Sunday that left a 15-year-old dead was accidental.
Mackeon Schulte died after he was shot in the head with a revolver at a house on Alderson Avenue, said Capt. John Bedford of Billings Police Department.
No arrests have been made in connection to the incident. Investigators are meeting with the county attorney’s office to determine how to proceed. Schulte’s family will also meet with officials before a decision is made on whether charges will be filed, Bedford said.
“It’s a tragedy,” he said. “We have to investigate at this point for what it is, but it’s a tragedy all around.”
Investigators said the shooting occurred about 2:30 a.m. Sunday after Schulte and a friend he was spending the night with showed up at their friend’s house on Alderson Avenue, Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said in a press release.
According to the press release, the two boys knocked on their friend’s window and threw pebbles in an attempt to wake him up. The sleeping boy was startled by the noise and didn’t know who was outside. He grabbed a gun he had in his room and fired through the window. The gunshot struck Schulte in the head but did not injure his companion.
The investigation is ongoing. Only the victim’s name is being released because the other boys involved are juveniles and no arrests have been made, according to the release.
Schulte was a sophomore at Senior High. Counselors were on campus and available to students and staff Monday, said Superintendent Terry Bouck.
“This is a huge tragedy for Senior High and the district,” Bouck said. “We’re just doing the best we can to make sure everyone is OK throughout this situation.”
He said the crisis staff will be at the school on a day-to-day basis and be there all week if necessary.
The School District 2 Board of Trustees took note of the situation Monday evening by observing a moment of silence at the beginning of its meeting.
(34) comments
Just awful what can happen when kids have absolutely no adult suprvision. Waking a friend at 2:30 am? The friend has a loaded gun and shoots? Just worse with every added detail. Do the rest of you give kids loaded guns to keep in their rooms? Are you sure? Have you checked? Do you know what's in their trunks and gloveboxes?
I don't feel a need to judge either the children or their parents. It is a tragedy.
Dave Bovee, do you have any kids? You can't watch 'em 24/7. Tragic as it is, a kid that shoots at a window without knowing who is there, something's wrong with that picture. Condolenses.
You guys are ridiculous stop the judging he woke up was scared someone was outside his window and got a gun so what if he had a gun in his room no different then it would be if its across the house its going to be there no matter what. Mac was a great kid always had a smile on his face and never did anything wrong, he could always cheer people up no matter what happens you guys need to shut up and understand how tragic of a loss this is and we all need to be sportive of each other right now.
No, boomer, you can't, especially you Locals. You can, make a specific effort to disarm them until they're responsible and informed. To the gun nut: maybe you nedd to shut up and think.
Bovee, whoare you calling a "gun nut?" Why not, again, recount your story about how law enforcement supposedly roughed you up while you were brandishing your piece in Pioneer Park.
We need to stop calling these accidental. Unintentional I am sure but there is nothing accidental about somdone pyllingbthe trigger of a loaded gun.
I wanna know how a teen had a loaded weapon in his room to begin with !!careless ..don't you have 2 18 to have a firearm ?
Typical Bovee B.S. Why is guy stay in our town ? According to him it's a terrible place. It would be a lot better if he took his views and left.
R U, because his wife, his sole support, other than his governmnt check, works here.
you have to be 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun and 21 to buy a piston and most people have loaded firearms in their house we are in Montana but he shouldn't have shot it until he realized who it was for sure
Very sad this is one block from my neighborhood 😖
Prayers for the families and kids impacted by this. I can see how this could tragically happen people do not feel safe. He may of thought their was an intruder grabbed a weapon to protect his family and who knows what happened next but the loss of his friend the impact on these kids and families. ....shoulda coulda woulda statements really don't help at this point.
Suppressing comments will not change a thing.
From the time I was 12 years old until now I have kept a gun in my room, never loaded but ammunition was close by. The guns I kept then were rifles and a shot gun, although I didn't hunt much, I killed a lot of targets and beer cans, I kept them in my room because it was the logical place to store them. It never crossed my mind that they were for protection but that has changed. It's a sad commentary to the society we live in today that about 10 years ago I added a 9mm pistol to my collection, the rifles are still unloaded in the closet, the 9mm and a loaded clip are in the nightstand. I consider it a sad, sorry situation to sleep with a gun within reach but until we can rid ourselves of liberal judges and liberal attitudes it's only going to get worse. So put the blame for this tragedy where it belongs.
Am I to believe that he just acted on the spur of the moment, heard pebbles hit the window and fired shots at an unidentified person, killing that person without even issuing a warning?
My condolences to the family and friends of the 15 year old. This is a tragic, tragic event. But, reality is that a 13 year old should not have a revolver in his room. A 13 year old child is not mature enough to make these kind of decisions. A 13 year old without a gun would have been scared and ran to his parents and told them what was going on. Then hopefully the parents would then have rationally handled the situation by calling the police. Recently our 11 year old son wanted to stay home while we went shopping. While we were gone our adult daughter came over and not knowing that anyone was home went into the garage to leave us something. The 11 year old hearing someone in the garage, ran out the back door and to a neighbors house. Exactly what should have occurred. No gun involved.
the kid with the gun was 17 not 13
I know. Both the IR and the Gazette initially reported that he was 13. Then they took the age out of the article altogether and then they changed his age to 17. All the while not acknowledging that they reported him to be 13.
Ya' know what Dave! There are buses leaving town every day, I'm thinking there might be one going to where ever it is you came from.
First of all what parent allows a 15 year old child to have a gun let a lone a loaded gun? So the kid heard pebbles hitting the window does that give the child a reason to just shoot? He/She couldn't peek out the window to see who it is? So many kids are killing these days and not even having a care in the world who they hurt! I have read some of the comments and I am not judging but these are just questions that I feel everyone would like answer too.. I noticed one comment was the kid woke up scared because of the rocks hitting the window and then grabbed the gun... Would it of made a difference if it was a tree branch hitting the window during a windstorm would he just shoot the window?? Really come on.. Children need to take responsibility for their actions and just automatically shooting someone or something because your scared isn't the answer. He could of went and woke his parents and said someone is throwing pebbles or rocks at my window. That's what they did in the old days kids got scared they woke the parents up. I just do not agree with children possessing guns or weapons of any kind without parental supervision. This is why there is a law where you can't purchase them until you are 18.. You all can give whatever feed back you want. It won't bother me any at all. I just know that this is all wrong and the child should have to deal with the consequences of his/her actions. This is sad.. and Condolences to the family for their loss.
Tragic. But, it was not an accident....this is an example of gun negligence.
No charges filed? Our fair state immediately charged and later sentenced a man to 70 yrs for killing a kid who was burglarizing his residence. How can you not hold the child and the parents responsible. Really...who gives a child a loaded weapon to keep in their room? My son knew Mac well and my condolences go out to his family and friends. He was a good kid. And to the parents of the shooter....you should be ashamed of your poor parenting. My son tells me you are the doomsday prepper type. Maybe you should possess cyanide capsules instead of handguns.
I knew mac and i know who killed him and there is no way he meant to kill him who cars if he had a gun or not in the end people need to stop criticizing and get over it its to late now to change anything so just stop with all this nonsense
Because now is the time to be pointing fingers and getting up on our collective high horse. Right now, the thing most needed by these families is for us to kick dirt on them and have an idiot contest.
Hope I'm around when karma comes back and takes a huge bite out of your keesters.
Since my son hung around this group and could have potentially been the victim in this event d*mn right I am going to get on my "collective high horse". And people with sense don't fear karma they fear the children of idiots who carry weapons.
No disrespect intended here but if you are stating that your son could potentially have been the victim here, then he must be a kid who sneaks out in the middle of the night while you are asleep...? 2:30 a.m.? Doesn't that fall under your version of "poor parenting??"
I stated that he hung out with those teens. When under my supervision I don't allow the children to sneak out in the middle of the night. You will have to address that with the parents of the child who was supposed to be watching them at that time. If my kid were staying there you bet your a** I would be addressing it. But thanks for your non-disrespectful reply.
This isn't about us, but, like your "idiots who carry weapons" was a respectful? Guess we'll be seeing you or your son in the news soon?
This is a horribly Sad Senseless act and I believe the Parent and the Child should be charged because he had no right having a fire arm at his age. Why did he have one..is he a Drug Dealer? The kid that was shot...his life is GONE. It would be different if they were hunting and a gun accidentally went off. Peace and Prayers to everyone.
no he wasn't a drug dealer he is a really good kid and doesn't do anything bad at all but if u wake up to people outside you window and don't know who it is and they are trying to get in then u are going to grab a gun he didn't mean to shoot just to scare away my guess is that his finger was on the trigger and was shaking and was so nervous it acsidently went off
Having raised teenagers myself, I see both sides of this situation. My kid could easily have been the kid getting shot and he could have *maybe* been the kid doing the shooting. The other question that can be raised is the fact the Mac was out at 2:30 a.m. knocking on and throwing pebbles at a window...if they had stayed home, this would not have happened. For the commenter that said that their kid could have been the one getting shot at...please tell your kid to not be out in the middle of the night, rapping on windows! And to those who have kids with guns in their rooms, please tell them to consider other options before firing! Peace and prayers to ALL involved here.
ROTFLMAO! god is so weak and puny he has to be protected by the BG editors! Thank you for making my day!
This is so sad. People say why did this young man have access to a gun? Wake up young children in -Montana get licenses to kill and they get a jump on hunting season. If I woke up to someone in my window I would blow my wad too.
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