On February 1, 1993, 16-year-old student Randel Artis was shot in the stomach near the guidance counselor’s office at Amityville High School in Amityville, New York, and later died of his injuries. The shooting occurred after a series of interactions that included a meeting at the school and a stop in the cafeteria; witnesses and later court accounts describe Artis and others crossing paths with student Shem McCoy and a handgun being fired at close range. Another teen, John Billinger, was struck and survived.

Police quickly treated Shem McCoy, 17, of North Amityville, as the suspect; he was arraigned in Central Islip and ordered held without bail. The case produced both criminal proceedings and civil litigation: civil suits against the school district alleging negligent supervision were dismissed on appeal, the court finding the district lacked sufficiently specific notice of the dangerous conduct that led to the shooting.