Sobbing Youth Asks Class to Leave, Then Shoots Self

A 17-year-old high school student stood up at his desk in math class today, begged other students to leave the room, lit a cigarette and then shot himself in the head, officials said.

The boy, identified as Bruce Perry, was reported in critical condition at St. Luke’s Hospital.

Witnesses told radio station WNBH that Perry stood up in class about 9:15 a.m. and started crying. He took out a gun and pleaded with the 16 students in the room to leave, they said.

Eight students left and another eight tried to persuade Perry not to hurt himself as the teacher rushed from the room for help, the students said.

George Mendonca, an aide to the New Bedford mayor, said school officials called City Hall to “notify us there had been a tragedy at the school and to request buses right away to bus the kids out of there.”

“They said the boy had been acting very strange in class, that he stood up, moved from his seat to a seat close to one of his friends, lit a cigarette, smiled and then shot himself in the head,” Mendonca said.

Mendonca said the teacher had tried to use a phone in the classroom to call for help before the boy shot himself. “Before that point, she had no idea what he was going to use the gun for,” he said.

After the shooting, students and teachers huddled in the hallways of the Greater New Bedford Vocational-Technical High School, some weeping. Classes were dismissed for the day.