Ohio Teen Killed Family, Friends, Then Self, Sheriff Says

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio â€”  An 18-year-old about to graduate from high school shot to death his grandparents, mother and two friends, then wounded his younger sister, before committing suicide, authorities said Monday.

Logan County Sheriff Michael Henry said Monday he did not know if authorities would ever find out why Scott Moody acted as he did, “but we’re going to try.�

Authorities learned of the shootings at two neighboring farmhouses when the critically wounded survivor, 15-year-old Stacy Moody, called her stepsister, who made an anguished call to 911. The deaths came hours after a family graduation party.

Preliminary evidence showed that Moody went to the farmhouse next door Sunday morning and killed his grandparents with a .22-caliber rifle, then returned home and shot the others, then himself.

Schools Supt. Bernie Pachmayer said no one had seen any indication Moody was troubled. Moody was looking forward to graduation and was in great spirits, she said.

She said he was a clean-cut boy who wanted to farm and fit well into the area when he came to the district two years ago.

Henry identified the victims as Moody’s grandparents Sharyl Shafer, 66, and Gary Shafer, 67; Moody’s mother, Sheri Shafer, 37; and two friends, Megan Karus, 19, and Paige Harshbarger, 14. Karus and Harshbarger had slept over after the party.

Moody and Karus were to have graduated Sunday afternoon. School officials, who were notified of the deaths only minutes before the ceremony, held graduation as scheduled and announced the shootings afterward.