(05/15/17) - (UPDATE) - Monday was a tough day at Freeland High School.

Students returned to class one day after their classmate, 16-year-old Michael Dennis, was shot and killed in the basement of his home.

Tittabawassee Township Police say Dennis had a bonfire Saturday night and five friends decided to stay the night at the home in the 9000 block of N. River Road.

Around 2 a.m., a 911 call was made after Dennis was shot.

Police have not said who pulled the trigger. They said an autopsy planned for Monday afternoon and additional witness interviews may help them piece together what lead up to Dennis' death, and decide if it was accidental or intentional.

His parents were home at the time of the shooting.

Superintendent Matt Cairy said as students returned to school Monday, they were met by staff, grief counselors and other trusted adults.

He said the focus was on supporting the needs of each student. For some, that meant structure and attending class as usual, while for others it meant talking and sharing memories with friends.

"It was real quiet, you could tell a lot of kids were upset about it throughout the day," said Tyler McLaren, a friend of Dennis.

"Even kids he didn't know, that didn't personally know him, they were upset too," said Robby Primdahl, a friend of Dennis.

Dennis' friends said it was comforting to talk, even for people who weren't close with the 16 year old.

"It's a smaller town, so everybody almost knows everybody. When something like that happens, you, it takes a big toll on you," McLaren said.

Primdahl said Dennis was well-loved.

"He was a really nice guy, I trusted him a lot with stuff. He loved football. That was his favorite thing in the world, and he just loved his friends,” he said.

McLaren added Dennis was friendly, but focused.

"He was a fun guy to be around, he was always being funny, but like when it came to school, he was serious about it. He never missed class,” he said.

McLaren and Primdahl told us friends wrote messages on Dennis' parking spot with chalk and there was even a rose placed on the ground.

"Not as many kids in class, many more out in the parking lot at his parking spot, out in the football locker room at his locker. Lot of kids in the library just talking to each other, trying to get through the day," McLaren said.

Police said this shooting death also started an important conversation about teen drinking in the midst of prom and graduation season.

"Across the country what we're seeing is a mindset that sometimes parents allow their children to drink at home or friends to drink at home so that they can be supervised, or that they can stay at home and they're not on the roads, and that's just a bad thought," said Detective Brian Berg, with the Tittabawassee Township Police Department.

Berg said once the investigation is complete, detectives will present their case to the Saginaw County prosecutor. It'll be up to his team to decide what, if any charges, people involved will face. Berg said they are looking into who provided the alcohol to the teenagers.

"We cannot allow kids to drink. We are not going to tolerate it out here in Freeland, and we're going to take whatever action we have to, if we have anyone buying alcohol for minors," Berg said.

More teens have drank alcohol than you might think. The MiPHY survey, released by the state of Michigan Department of Education, shows 45.6 percent of Saginaw County students who were surveyed, have drank.

Thirteen percent of those ninth and eleventh grade students reported having their first drink by the age of 13. In addition, 20.1 percent of students reported having at least one drink of alcohol in the past 30 days.

The survey also shows 56.7 percent of students felt that alcohol is easy to access.

There were a total of 1,916 students throughout Saginaw County who participated.

Help is available for teens and there are programs to educate youth about the dangers of drinking.

Check out our 'Related Link' with this story to learn more, or use the contact information below.

Treatment Agencies for Adolescents:

-Holy Cross/Kairos Health Care, 989-755-1072

-Saginaw Psychological, 989-799-2100

Prevention Services:

-Prevention and Youth Services, 989-755-0937

-Sacred Heart Services, 989-864-2991

-Saginaw City Police, 989-776-6000

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(5/14/17) - (UPDATE) - Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of a 16-year old Freeland High School student in his own home.

Support staff and counselors will be available available Monday to help students deal with their grief.

Detective Brian Berg with Tittabawasee Township Police says what began as a get together with about five friends at the teen's home on North River Road took a deadly turn around 2 AM.

Police --responding to 911 calls from this home on North River Road---arrived to find a 16-year old gunshot victim in the basement of his own home.

"There was a bonfire earlier in the evening," said Detective Brian Berg, "then the kids came in from the bonfire - and went down in the basement to watch some movies and that's when the incident occurred."

Police are still trying to determine if the shooting was accidental or intentional.

Police say the weapon was recovered inside the home--where there were a lot of guns as the address is registered with the ATF as a federally licensed gun dealer - Freeland Arms Company LLC.

Berg says investigators are looking into what extent the guns were secured. Police also believe alcohol played a role:

"We don't want kids to drink in the first place --that's why we have the law for it but alcohol and guns never mix this was a tragic situation that may have been averted had we not had alcohol at the scene," said Berg.

Berg says the parents were home at the time of the shooting but were not aware alcohol was being consumed.

Sunday night a student support meeting was held at st. Agnes Church in Freeland.

Former Freeland school board member Rick Burmeister --who lives right down the road--shared his reaction to the news of the shooting after hearing the sirens early Sunday morning.

"We're shocked and our hearts and our prayers go out to the family - I know the school has already set some counseling for the students, it's a tough time, it's going to be hard for the community," he noted.

Freeland High School principal Traci Smith released a statement this evening asking for prayers and strength for the victim's family and their school community.

Police says the 16-year was known as a good student who had just participated in a football training camp.

The shooting remains under investigation.

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A 16-year-old Freeland High School student is dead after an overnight shooting following a bonfire, according to police.

It happened around 2:00 a.m. Sunday in the 9000 block of N. River Road in Tittabawassee Township.

Tittabawassee Township police officers, along with Saginaw County Sheriff deputies and Midland County Sheriff deputies responded to 911 calls of a shooting.

Upon arrival officers discovered a deceased 16-year-old student of Freeland High School in the basement of a residence.

The incident occurred following a bonfire at the victim’s residence in which alcohol was believed to be a factor.

Tittabawassee Township detectives have interviewed several Freeland High School students who were at the scene at the time of the shooting to determine if the shooting was intentional or accidental.

Saginaw County Victim Advocates, as well as a counselor from Freeland High School, were sent to the scene to provide counseling.

Freeland Superintendent Matt Cairy advised the Freeland High School will have support staff available for students throughout this time of grief.

This incident is still under investigation.