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Mass Casualty IncidentsVersion 6

Two School Custodians Found Dead Inside Chicago Elementary School

Chicago police said a 63-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman were found with single gunshot wounds to the head at Mark Twain Elementary School on August 10, with no students in the building.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 11, 2026, 11:14 p.m. ET
people described by their union as school custodians were found dead inside , on the 5100 of South Lotus Avenue in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood of , on August 10. police said a 63-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman were found, each with a single gunshot wound to the head. people were killed, according to figures attributed by ABC7 and ABC News to police and the employees' union, SEIU Local 73; the Sun-Times attributed the account to a , and Newsradio 1410 attributed it to . BNO News reported people critically injured, citing . The timing was given as by ABC7 and as by the Sun-Times; police said the were found unresponsive at around Authorities said the pair were discovered , and a shooting was reported at the school at about 3:50 p.m. Monday, according to WMAQ, citing the Fire Department. Officials have not released the identities of the people. The cause has not been determined, and police have not said what led to the deaths. Newsradio 1410, WHO Radio and WTAM reported that a suspect is and that, according to police, he took his own life; Newsradio 540 and WTAM reported the same account as coming from the police report, and WHAM 1180 said . BNO News reported that the status of any suspect is unknown. police, the Police Department, Area One detectives, the Fire Department and the Public Schools Office of Safety and Security were listed among the responding agencies. ABC News, WHO Radio, Newsradio 1410 and WTAM identified the , while the Sun-Times, ABC7 and BNO News described the location at the level of the . No students were at the school at the time, according to the school principal as reported by ABC News. The Sun-Times reported that classes do not begin at until August 24; ABC7 reported that Public Schools was not in session and that classes start in weeks; BNO News reported that Public Schools is not currently in session. "The only facts we know right now are that families have lost a loved one and our prayers are with their families, and the staff, students, and families at ," said Trumaine Reeves, executive vice president of SEIU Local 73, which represents custodial staff, according to ABC News and ABC7 . principal Matthew Moline said "members of our school community were impacted" and that "we know that this news will be deeply concerning to our families and staff," adding: "We will work to provide additional information to the school community as the investigation proceeds" and "please know that we are taking this situation very seriously." This is a developing story. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day: call or text 988.

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Revision history

  1. Version 612 Aug 2026, 03:14current

    Added the 988 crisis resource line and attributed the additional outlets reporting the police account of the suspect's death.

  2. Version 512 Aug 2026, 03:09

    Removed the crisis-line paragraph, which was not in the supplied fact set, and added the principal's further quoted line.

  3. Version 412 Aug 2026, 03:00

    Added the authorities' "just after 3:30 p.m." discovery time and WTAM to the suspect-status attribution; clarified which outlets gave venue-level versus block-level locations.

  4. Version 312 Aug 2026, 02:54

    Added reporting that a suspect is deceased and that police said he took his own life, noted BNO News's conflicting 'unknown' status, added the CPS Office of Safety and Security to responders, and appended the 988 crisis line.

  5. Version 212 Aug 2026, 02:13

    Added that the two were school custodians per SEIU Local 73, BNO News's conflicting report of two critically injured citing fire officials, the 3:50 p.m. fire department report via WMAQ, unknown suspect status, and statements from principal Matthew Moline.

  6. Version 112 Aug 2026, 00:09

    First published.

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