GUN ACCIDENT KILLS TEEN

HALLSVILLE -- A 14-year-old Hallsville girl was killed when a friend playing with a high-powered rifle accidentally shot her in the face, Boone County authorities said.

Rena Smith died Thursday afternoon at the home of her 13-year-old friend.

Investigators believe the shooting was accidental, said Boone County Sheriff's Sgt. Andy Anderson.

The friend told authorities he had loaded the weapon with "what he thought was a spent round," Anderson said.

The boy told authorities the girl had been playing with a shotgun.

"In playing with these guns, the boy was playing with the rifle with the intention of scaring the little girl, and the gun discharged and fatally wounded her," Anderson said. He said the guns belonged to an occupant of the house, about 10 miles north of Columbia in north-central Missouri.

The friend, a seventh-grader, was taken into custody on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and was being held at the Juvenile Justice Center Friday evening.

The two teens were alone at the home because there was no school Thursday.