Two custodians have been found shot dead in an apparent murder-suicide at an elementary school on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
Police say that a 48-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man were found unresponsive, each with a gunshot wound to the head, inside Mark Twain Elementary School in Garfield Ridge on Monday, according to local media. They were taken to a local hospital in critical condition and later died, Fox 32 Chicago reported.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office told The Independent that the man had been identified as Theottis James Stigger. Officials have yet to release the name of the woman because her family had not yet been notified.
The custodians’ union, SEIU Local 73, said in a statement carried by news outlets: “Two families have lost a loved one and our prayers are with their families, and the staff, students, and families at Mark Twain Elementary School.”
The shooting unfolded Monday afternoon when the 63-year-old custodian, upset that he was going to be relocated from the school, walked behind his co-worker in a hallway and shot her at close range, according to a police report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
open image in galleryThe suspected shooter, who had been a custodian for 20 years, then went to the school’s office and shot himself, according to the report.
There were no students at the school as they don’t return from summer break until August 24.
Mark Twain Elementary principal Matthew Moline said in a letter to the school community Tuesday, “We know that this news will be deeply concerning to our families and staff.”
“Please know that we are taking this situation very seriously to ensure the safety of our school community,” Moline added in a statement shared by local media.
One concerned parent, Felicia Puga, said she was “appalled” by the shooting.
“This is ridiculous. Fourteen days until school. And janitors, people that are in the school with my child,” Puga, whose daughter starts second grade in less than two weeks, told ABC 7 Chicago.
open image in gallery“Imagine if a new student wanted to come in here to the office. They’re with their parents. ‘Hey, we want to register our kid for so-and-so,’ and then this just happens,” Puga said.
Edgar Ochoa, a former student of Mark Twain Elementary, told the outlet that the shooting was “kind of unexpected because when I came here it was never bad around here.”
Ana Medina, who lives near the school and is familiar with the custodial staff, said she feels sorry about what happened.
“I feel bad about them, and we know some of them,” she told Fox 32 Chicago.
Last weekend, at least five people were killed, and another 14 were wounded from gun violence in the Windy City, according to CBS News Chicago. The shooting victims reportedly ranged in age from 17 to 50.