Chicago police found two custodians dead from gunshot wounds inside Mark Twain Elementary School on Monday afternoon, and the circumstances remain unexplained, with no arrests and no motive disclosed.
A 48-year-old woman and a 63-year-old man, both custodians at the school, were discovered with single gunshot wounds to the head inside the building. Officers recovered a weapon at the scene. Both were rushed to a hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.
No students were in the building at the time, according to the school's principal, Matthew Moline. The names of the two victims have not been released. Chicago police have not announced any arrests or identified any suspects.
Moline sent a letter to the school community acknowledging the incident but offering few details. ABC News reported that the principal confirmed "members of our school community were impacted" and pledged to share more information as the investigation moves forward.
"Please know that we are taking this situation very seriously."
That was the extent of the principal's public commitment. He did not identify the victims, did not describe the circumstances, and did not address how two people ended up shot dead inside a school building.
Trumaine Reeves, executive vice president of SEIU Local 73, the union representing the custodial staff, issued a statement focused on the families left behind.
"The only facts we know right now are that 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 known facts raise more questions than they settle. Police confirmed the weapon recovery and the cause of the wounds, single gunshot to the head for each victim, but have said nothing about whether this was a double homicide, a murder-suicide, or some other scenario. They have not disclosed the type of weapon found or where in the building the two were discovered.
Equally unclear: how the shooting happened inside a school building. Was the building locked? Were other staff present? Did anyone hear the shots? None of that has been addressed publicly.
The relationship between the two custodians, whether they were coworkers on the same shift, whether they knew each other outside work, has not been described by police or school officials.
Moline's assurance that no students were in the building offers one small relief. But for parents sending their children to Mark Twain Elementary, a principal's letter that says "we are taking this situation very seriously" without explaining what happened or what the school is doing about it is not reassurance. It is a placeholder.
Two people went to work at a Chicago public school and did not come home. Their families are grieving. The community is waiting. And so far, the only thing anyone in authority has offered is thoughts, prayers, and a promise to share information later.
Chicagoans have heard that promise before. They are still waiting on a city that owes its residents, and two dead workers' families, a great deal more than boilerplate.
