His father found him and called police. Now, police are trying to figure out who did it and why.
Eyewitness News reporter Marcus Solis has the story.
There was no forced entry and nothing was taken from the home. Police initially thought they were responding to a suicide. But no weapon was found, which led them to believe foul play was involved.
"I just broke down during, after third period," student Corey Katz said. "And I couldn't go to my classes. I couldn't stop crying."
High school friends were in absolute shock over the death of their classmate. Authorities say 17-year-old Kyle Schneider was shot in the head Thursday night inside of his house. The boy's father made the discovery when he came home.
"Throughout the night, we searched it, we processed the scene," Fairfield police captain Gary McNamara said. "There was no weapon recovered. Obviously, that's a telltale sign that this was not a suicide."
Scheidner lived with his father, renting the pool house of residence in the affluent Greenfield Hill section of town. The teen was a junior at Fairfield High School and loved music, playing saxophone in the band.
"Everybody in the school liked him," student Jarrod Figueiredo said. "Our [memorial] here that everybody set up is a real testament to that. There was pretty much a parade of kids who came out after school and did this."
Police say the boy's father is not a suspect and say they hope Schneider's friends will lead them to the killer.
"We believe there's somebody out there who has information that can provide as to who caused it or information that may lead us to who caused it," McNamama said. "And we're hoping that they come forward and help us out."
But friends say they are at a loss to explain the murder.
"I don't know," student Shayna Kessler said. "I can't think of a single person who would want to, I just don't know."
Police are hoping that the "17-year-old grapevine," as they call it, will provide them with some leads. Grief counselors were on hand at the school Friday. They will be back Monday.
