An Indiana teacher was taken into custody by police on Thursday after they learned she had a “kill list” of students and staff at the school where she taught.
According to a Facebook post from the East Chicago Police Department, police were summoned to St. Stanislaus School at about 5 p.m. Wednesday in connection with comments made by teacher Angelica Carrasquillo-Torres, 25, earlier in the day.
The post said a student informed school staff that her teacher talked about killing herself and others at the school and that she had a list.
“She said that she wanted to kill her middle school friends, her high school friends, and half of her family,” fifth-grade pupil Portia Jones said, according to CBS.
The girl said the teacher made the comments while she was present, as were a counselor and another student.
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“Then she admitted that she had a kill list,” the girl said.
“I’m really, like, scared and worried,” she said, according to WLS-TV. “She said she wanted to choke us, and she wanted to kill herself.”
“The teacher was immediately escorted in to the Principal’s office to discuss the matter. While discussing the matter in the office the teacher allegedly admitted to the Principal that she did in fact make those statements to the student and confirmed that she did have a ‘kill list,’” the police post said.
“During the conversation the teacher named a specific student on her list, but did not provide the list. The Principal then advised the teacher to leave and not return to school pending an investigation,” the release said.
Should the school have contacted police immediately?
The release noted that police were not informed until four hours after the teacher had been sent home.
According to WGN, the school later contradicted that statement, saying the teacher was detained on school grounds.
“The teacher was immediately removed from the classroom and detained by we investigated the incident. After students were safely dismissed, the teacher was escorted off campus and we notified the police,” an email to parents read.
St. Stanislaus Principal Angelica Foy offered a similar statement to WFLD-TV.
“The teacher was removed from the classroom and escorted to the principal’s office, where she remained under supervision and had no further contact with students,” she said.
Police detained Carrasquillo-Torres at her home on Thursday and said she is currently on a psychiatric hold in a local hospital, according to WFLD-TV.
“I’m worried for my child’s safety,” said Kirsten Saldivar, a parent of a pre-K student at the Catholic school. “A child should not have to fear going to school every day, especially in such a small community of a school.”
“We knew nothing and we went about our normal school days like nothing was wrong,” Saldivar said.
“The original email that we received last night had no information of what was going on other than there was an issue in that specific classroom,” she said.
