Thursday, January 24, 2008

A teacher stabbed

For those of you familiar with Elgin High School, we’ve got some sad news about a teacher who was stabbed by a student on the last day of finals. The teacher has lost the use of one eye as a result of the attack. Her other injuries were superficial.

One of the local newspapers has identified the boy as 16-year old Angel Facio of the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue in Elgin. That’s about a block away from the baseball fields.

The boy was not a student of this particular teacher but was in her class last year.

The school was nearly empty when the boy entered her classroom at about 11:15 am. He asked if he could wait in her room until the bus came. She agreed and continued to work at her desk. The boy threw a coat over her head and began stabbing her with a steak knife.

Another teacher heard her screaming and came to her rescue. She fled the room and the other teacher locked the boy in the room until police arrived.

Here’s what the Chicago Tribune reported about the boy’s reaction during the attack. (Rescuing teacher) “Gannon yelled "Stop!" and the teen sat at a desk and put his head down.”

Now, this was on Friday, the 18th. On Tuesday, the 22nd, the city of Elgin releases its initiatives to crack down on illegal aliens. Some folks are making a connection, but I’m not so sure. We may never know.

We also may never know the immigration status of the boy and his family. Why? Because Elgin High is in Cook County and Cook County is a declared sanctuary county. Not that it matters; this boy will spend the most productive years of his life in a prison or a locked mental hospital. His family would probably welcome deportation, but that isn’t an option for a long time to come.

And once again, every student will suffer because of one kook. The district is now reviewing its security policy. It will almost certainly result in full-time metal detectors and backpack searches.

It is a losing battle in our open society. The founding fathers warned us that our freedoms were designed for a moral, God-fearing, society. It won’t work if the people are wicked. A certain amount of restraint and “goodness” are required of the citizenry. And there aren’t enough laws or police or prisons or metal detectors to compensate.

Updated information: It turns out that this boy was implicated last August in the rape of an 8-year-old girl. But Kane County has a child advocacy program that has kept him out of jail. DNA backlogs and DA caseloads have kept him from being charged with the crime or taken into custody.

But the State's Attorney is taking the case to a grand jury TODAY. Isn't it funny how priorities shift?

All indications are that the boy is in the United States legally (as in a citizen). Deportation is not an option, so we'd better pray he is tried as an adult. Otherwise, he could be released when he turns 21.

Update #2: This story gets worse all the time. It came out in the paper today that two days before he stabbed the teacher, Angel attempted to abduct a 13-year-old girl over by Larsen Middle School. The girl got away but has identified him as the one.

Also, the judge ruled that for the August charge Angel will be tried as an adult. This will get him six to 30 years. As for the stabbing, we're still waiting to hear if he will be tried as an adult.

Then again, this is looking more like a lunacy case all the time.

3 comments:

  1. I'm curious to see what his motive was. Did the teacher fail him last year? Or is it a serious mental defect (which it certainly sounds like)

    Here's a problem I have...they won't release the boy's name becuase he's a minor (except the courier..whoops!). Ok, fine. Even with the extreme nature of the crime. But, why is it they have to release the name, age and address of the victim? Is that relevant to the story? Is it necessary? At least her family has enough sense to not offer a comment on it. No need for them to go on the news and conduct a Q&A like we see constantly.

    That kid is disturbed for sure. I hope the punnishment does fit the crime.

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  2. I was Facio's best friend[or so he once said] and I had no idea what was going on, nor did anyone else at school obviously. He was a nice kid, a little quiet, but not to the point of concern. I had him in a different class last year and he was fine.

    I just want to say in response to the media, that their conduct toward our school, students, and faculty members is disgraceful. I understand they have a job to report things like this but they have refused time and time again to stop pressuring us for comments. It needs to stop and it needs to stop NOW. Let us, along with his family and the victim, whom they have also harassed via phone and other means, grieve in peace.

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  3. I'm sorry the newspaper is hounding you for information. But as you see, that coverage led to solving another crime over by Larsen.
    It is sad when these things happen to the people you know. We all draw closer to friends and family and hope we can "be there" for those who cry out.

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