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 (AP) - A teenager brought two guns to his rural
school and shot the principal to death Friday after a struggle with
adults and other students, authorities said.

      The 15-year-old was taken into custody and charged with
first-degree intentional homicide, the district attorney said. No
one else was hurt.

      It was not clear why the student opened fire or if Weston
Schools Principal John Klang was the intended target, Sheriff Randy
Stammen said.

      Witnesses said the student walked in with a shotgun before
classes began. A custodian, teachers and students wrestled with
him, but he broke through, took out a handgun and shot Klang three
times, Stammen said.

      The custodian said the teen was a special-education student who
told him he was there to kill someone, but did not say who.

      "He was calm, but he was on a mission," said Dave Thompson,
43, who also has two children at the school.

      Sophomore Shelly Rupp, 16, described the boy as a freshman with
few friends and said he was "just weird in the head."

      "He always used to kid around about bringing things to school
and hurting kids," she said at a gas station nearby where students
and townspeople gathered.

      Thompson said the student first pointed a shotgun in a teacher's
face. Thompson grabbed away the gun, but the student then appeared
to be reaching for another gun, so Thompson and the teacher took
cover. Thompson then ran into a kitchen to call 911.

      Junior Timmy Donovan said the student "pulled a .22 pistol out
of his pants, and then started shooting the principal. And at that
point, I guess the principal ran and tackled him to the ground."

      Klang, 49, was shot in the head, chest and leg, authorities
said. He died hours later at a hospital in Madison.

      The student could get life in
prison if convicted, District Attorney Patricia Barrett said.
Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

      Children from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade attend the small
school near Cazenovia, a community of about 300 people about 60
miles northwest of Madison.

      The shooting took place two days after a gunman took six
students hostage in a Colorado high school and killed one of them
before committing suicide.

      Laurie Rhea, 42, said the principal spent last weekend at the
gas station washing cars for a homecoming fundraiser.

      "All the kids just loved him," she said.

      The shooting happened as the school was preparing for homecoming
weekend. The homecoming parade, football game and dance were
canceled or postponed.

Gallery

Hospital officials say the rural Wisconsin high
school principal who was shot Friday by a student has died.

Principal shot at Wisconsin school dies

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