Overview
- Police found a 48-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man unresponsive with gunshot wounds inside Mark Twain Elementary on Monday and both later died at a hospital.
- The Cook County medical examiner ruled the woman’s death a homicide and the man’s death a suicide and identified the man as Theottis James Stigger.
- Officers recovered a firearm at the scene and surveillance footage plus a police report describe the man walking up behind the woman, shooting her at close range, then going to the office and shooting himself.
- Chicago Public Schools has kept the building closed, the principal said crisis supports are being provided to staff, and students are due back from summer break on August 24.
- The custodians’ union offered prayers and support to both families and local coverage has placed the case in the wider context of recent gun violence in the city and calls for transparency in the investigation.