Saturday, January 19, 2008

Student attack on teacher 'like out of a horror movie'

This from the Chicago Sun Times:

ELGIN -- A 16-year-old Elgin High School student has been charged with aggravated battery after allegedly stabbing his teacher following semester finals Friday, according to police.

The 16-year-old male has been charged with one count each of aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon and aggravated battery to a person known to be a teacher, both Class 2 felonies, according to a release from Elgin police.

The teen is accused of attacking his 50-year-old female teacher with a knife at the school at 1200 Maroon Drive in the northwest suburb on Friday morning.

The male student entered the teacher's empty first-floor classroom at 11:15 a.m. shortly after the early dismissal of students following semester finals, according to witnesses.

The witnesses, who identified the victim as family and consumer sciences teacher Carolyn Gilbert, said she was stabbed with a steak knife four times in the back of her neck and once near her eye. They said the scene was "like out of a horror movie" and that the student stabbed her with such force that the knife blade broke off.

Tony Sanders, district spokesman, did not say what provoked the attack or if the student was enrolled in any of Gilbert's classes.

Witnesses said that during the attack, a male teacher entered the room and intervened, ending the attack. After which, witnesses said Gilbert cried, "my eye, my eye."

Witnesses said the male teacher restrained the student until the school's police liaison officer and Elgin police arrived. The student was immediately taken into custody by police and transported to the Elgin Police Department...

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