High School Bowling Coach Shoots & Kills 17-Year-Old Girl in Murder-Suicide & No One Knows Why

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A Michigan community is left with more questions than answers after a recent high school graduate was shot and killed. The girl died in an suspected murder-suicide, but no one can figure out why. It’s mainly because the teen didn’t seem to have much of a connection to Ryne Leist, the man who fatally shot her before killing himself. Leist reportedly had been coaching the high school’s bowling team, but his exact tie to the school is unclear, prompting additional concerns from parents.

Monroe County Sheriff Troy Goodnough said Leist, 33, “made entry” into the home of 17-year-old Gwen Smith’s stepfather on June 14, 2025, WTVG reported. Leist shot Gwen Smith multiple times, killing her. He then turned the gun on himself. Investigators are still determining how Leist got into the residence.

Smith was a recent graduate of Bedford High School, where she was part of a club bowling team. Although Leist was apparently the coach for the team, there was confusion about whether he was actually employed by the school district. Goodnough initially stated that Leist wasn’t employed as the team’s coach, but upon more investigation, he revised his statement.

According to the sheriff, Leist was a “volunteer” through Forest View Lanes, a local recreation center, WTOL reported. But when the 2024-25 yearbook listed him as “coach,” it created more concern.

“It has shaken our confidence in administration,” a parent who didn’t want to be identified told the news outlet.

“Every coach who works with anyone through bowling at the youth level, they have to go through a national background check,” Bedford schools Superintendent Carl Shultz told WTOL. He added that Leist had passed all required background checks.

Shultz started a GoFundMe account for the Smith family. It’s raised nearly $21,000 thus far.

Things only got murkier when Goodnough revealed that Leist wasn’t working for Forest View Lanes at the time of the killing. Currently, authorities don’t have a clear timeline for when Leist stopped working there, but they did say he likely quit a “short time” before killing Smith, WTVG reported.

It is still unclear to authorities how well or long Leist and Smith knew each other. They also have not been able to establish a clear motive for the killing. The sheriff said Smith didn’t see Leist as a romantic partner, and they weren’t in a relationship. Goodnough said there was communication between the two five days before the killing. He didn’t give more information, however, beyond noting that investigators were looking into it.

Smith’s stepfather, Levi Smith, had something to say about the emails. A local Facebook group was talking about the killing, the New York Post reported. As allegations against Leist flew, one person implored the group not to jump to conclusions. 

“I’ve seen enough of the emails he sent my daughter before he killed her to know it’s not speculation,” Levi Smith shared in his post to the group, per the news outlet. “He deserves to rot in a special hell.”