Posted on 01/24/2008 7:06:47 PM PST by Main Street
ELGIN) An Elgin High School teacher stabbed by a student Friday morning has been released from the hospital, according to a statement from Elgin School District U46.
Carolyn Gilbert, a family and consumer sciences teacher, was stabbed by a 16-year-old male student with a steak knife four times in the back of her neck and once near her eye, according to witnesses.
Elgin High School staff confirmed Saturday that Gilbert lost her eye as a result of the attack.
The male student, whose name has not been released, 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.
According to the witnesses, a male teacher entered the room during the attack and intervened, ending the attack. After which, witnesses said Gilbert cried, “my eye, my eye.”
The student stabbed her skull so that the knife blade broke off, said witnesses, who also described the scene as being something “like out of a horror movie.”
After the attack, Gilbert, 50, was taken to Sherman Hospital for treatment. A hospital spokesman said the injuries were to her upper body and were not life-threatening. She was listed in good condition Friday when she arrived, according to a hospital spokesman. But Gilbert was transferred Friday evening to the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago, according to the medical center spokeswoman.
No one else was injured in the attack.
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 taken to the Elgin Police Department.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged the student with one count of aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon and one count of aggravated battery to a person known to be a teacher. Both charges are felonies.
The student was taken to the Cook County Youth Facility in Chicago, which happens to be within walking distance of University of Illinois Medical Center, on Friday evening by Elgin Police juvenile detectives. He has a hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Chicago.
An investigation is underway by Elgin School District U46 to determine what disciplinary action will be taken.
District spokesman Tony Sanders said the student “will not be returning to Elgin High School.”
According to Sanders, this is the first time a teacher has been “attacked at this magnitude.” He did not say what provoked the attack or if the student was enrolled in any of Gilbert’s classes.
Sanders said the district does not know whether the student brought the knife into the building as of late Friday afternoon despite Elgin High School’s use of metal detector wands and the presence of a full-time police liaison officer. The weapon used in the stabbing was recovered at the scene, according to district officials.
Regarding the attack, the Elgin Teachers’ Association President, Tim Davis said, “I am concerned about the well-being and recovery of our colleague from Elgin High and I am also concerned about the safety of staff and students at all of our sites.”
-- Sun-Times, Courier News
Was not the school a weapon free zone? That means......
Oh, what the heck. Criminals will continue to break the law.
Wow, this is one of the bigger ones (reasons to homeschool), wouldn’t you agree?
Who wants to bet drugs are involved? Meth or anti-depressants or both.
OMG - this is just horrible. And I know there are various degrees of describing a patient’s condition (based on their likely survivability), but it’s hard to read that she’s in “good” condition when she just lost her eye!
And the charges (aggravated battery) seem pretty light. Doesn’t this sound like attempted murder? In any case, the kid needs to be locked up for life.
The kid is being charged with FELONY charges abd the school responds with THIS:
“An investigation is underway by Elgin School District U46 to determine what disciplinary action will be taken. “
GEESH!
Ya think?
I'm so glad we homeschool.
Only people who want to PROTECT themselves are denied weapons ... attackers get winked at.
and they wonder why no one wants to teach in inner city schools.
I could go for the old “eye for an eye” real easy.
Red hot poker sounds good to me.
You must be crazy......this kid is obviously suffering from ADHD and didn’t take his Ritalin! Because any real felon would have finished the job. Instead he probably got distracted by something going on in the hallway. It isn’t his fault anyway. heavy/sarc
This menace to society should be charged with attempted murder.
Is that what used to be called home-ec (home economics)?
But....but....but,but,but...aren’t you worried that your child might miss out on all this wonderful social interaction?
WTF?? So there would have only been one count if he had stabbed the janitor or the school secretary? I guess some animals are more equal than others. Thank you, Mr. Orwell for your prescience.
Based on my sister's teaching experiences outside Washington DC, the disciplinary action will be against the teacher. I suspect she was totally unreasonable with her demands on the "yute" when she expected him to not be tardy, sit down, stop talking back, stop interrupting class and turn in his homework.
Will the MSM call for the banning of steak knifes.
At the very least each knife should have a serial number and all knifes must be registered.
Perhaps the knifes should be outlawed, then only outlaws will have steak knifes. Perhaps the ban should be extended to include all knifes.
***The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged the student with one count of aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon ***
And why not “attempted murder”?
Unbelievable!
It’s nuts out there.
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