Failing Grade May Have Led to Killing
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LEWISTOWN, Mont. — Authorities in this central Montana town of 7,000 tried to determine Friday whether a failing grade in French provoked a high school freshman into a shooting spree that killed a teacher and wounded three other people.
The 14-year-old boy, who was arrested Thursday after officers surrounded his house, appeared before a judge on Friday in a closed hearing at the Montana Youth Treatment Center in Billings and was charged with being a delinquent by reason of homicide, authorities said.
Henrietta Smith, a 40-year-old substitute French teacher, was fatally shot in the face Thursday when she answered the door of her classroom, officials said.
Students said the boy had threatened to kill the regular French teacher, LaVonne Simonfy, because she had given him a failing grade.
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