ABILENE, Texas -- A 16-year-old high school student walked up to his history teacher at the end of class Tuesday, shot him point-blank in the face and calmly walked out the door, witnesses said.
The teacher, Rick Maloney, 35, was in stable condition at Humana Hospital after undergoing facial surgery.
The student, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, surrendered to police about two hours after the 10 a.m. incident.
Witnesses said the youth was 'very calm' when he fired one shot from a .22-caliber derringer at Maloney, who was struck in the left cheek.
Students at Cooper High School said there was no apparent provocation for the shooting and the student did not appear to be excited either before or after the incident.
'He just walked calmly out of the classroom,' said one witness.
School officials kept student witnesses in the principal's office for most of the morning. Although students were willing to talk about the shooting, parents refused to allow their children to talk to reporters.
'It was a very traumatic scene for the students in the classroom,' said one school administrator who asked not to be identified. 'We immediately put our crisis plan into operation, calling in additional counselors and alerting community agencies to handle referrals.'
Police said they knew of no motive for the shooting.
