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Mass Casualty IncidentsVersion 7

Two custodians found dead inside Chicago elementary school

Chicago police said a 63-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman, both school custodians, were found with single gunshot wounds to the head inside Mark Twain Elementary School on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. A suspect's status is listed as deceased.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 11, 2026, 2:19 p.m. ETUpdated Aug 16, 2026, 7:42 a.m. ET
school custodians were found dead inside Mark Twain Elementary School, in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood of , , on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. police said a 63-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman were found each with a single gunshot wound to the head, and said both were school custodians. ABC News' station WLS reported Monday that school custodians were found shot dead inside the school. The casualty figures for the incident, as of , are killed and injured. Those counts are attributed to police and union officials and to a police report cited by The Sun Times. The figures are not reconciled in the material available for this report. On timing, authorities said the were discovered police said the man and woman were found at inside the school in the 5100 of South Lotus Avenue, and police said the pair were found unresponsive at around in the 5100 of South Lotus Avenue in Garfield Ridge. The Police Department said the shooting happened at the school in the 5100 of South Lotus Avenue and that adults were discovered unresponsive inside the building Monday afternoon. WMAQ, citing the Fire Department, said a shooting was reported at the school at about 3:50 p.m. Monday. said a shooting at the school, on South Lotus Avenue near West 52nd Street, was reported at about 3:50 p.m., and gave the time of the report as shortly before 4 p.m. Monday afternoon. The status of a suspect is listed as . The material available for this report does not state how that person died, does not identify the person, and does not describe a weapon. police, the Police Department, Area One detectives, the Fire Department, and the Public Schools Office of Safety and Security are among the agencies listed as responding. Students are scheduled to return to Mark Twain Elementary School on Aug. 24, according to the reporting. "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 Mark Twain Elementary School," said Trumaine Reeves, executive vice president of SEIU Local 73, the union that represents the custodians. Matthew Moline, principal of Mark Twain Elementary School, said: "I am sorry to share that members of our school community were impacted." He added, "We know that this news will be deeply concerning to our families and staff," and said, "Please know that we are taking this situation very seriously." Moline also said, "We will work to provide additional information to the school community as the investigation proceeds."

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Revision history

  1. Version 716 Aug 2026, 11:42current

    Added Fox News's competing figure of one killed, removed the unsourced crisis-line block and the 'developing story' line, and tightened attribution on the venue/block and suspect-status disagreements.

  2. Version 612 Aug 2026, 03:14

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

  3. Version 512 Aug 2026, 03:09

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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. Version 112 Aug 2026, 00:09

    First published.

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