A 5th-grade school teacher was arrested after confessing that she had a list of students and staff she wanted to kill.
5th Grade Teacher Arrested
Last Wednesday, at St. Stanislaus Catholic elementary school, located at 4930 Indianapolis Boulevard in East Chicago, a 5th-grade teacher, Angelica Carrasquillo-Torres, was arrested for having a “kill list” that included names of students and staff.
A student, Portia Jones, at the school confided in a school counselor around 12:45 pm about the “kill list” and the comments made to the student by the teacher.
The student says the teacher, 25, commented that she was at the bottom of her list and said the teacher made comments about killing herself, students, and staff members, according to a statement by the East Chicago Police Department.
The teacher was immediately escorted to the principal’s office, who told her to leave and not return pending an investigation.
During the discussion in the principal’s office, the teacher confirmed that she made the comments to the students and that she did have a “kill list.” Police stated that she did not provide the list during the discussion but did name a specific student.
The teacher was escorted off campus after students were dismissed around 4:45 pm, and police were notified around 4 hours later, who then completed a criminal investigation report.
The next day the police obtained an emergency detention order for the teacher from the Lake County Prosecutors Office. She was taken into custody by detectives around 11:15 am Thursday, October 13th.
Carrasquillo-Torres has been charged with intimidation in a threat to commit a forcible felony.
The “Kill List”
The elementary school student, Portia told ABC7 Chicago about what happened.
The fifth grader said: “She said she wanted to choke us, and kill herself.”
Portia’s dad Quiannis Jones said: “They should of never let her walk out the door. They should of arrested her there and then. That’s a threat of the school.”
“We were informed of a concerning report from a student regarding comments made by the student’s teacher,” St. Stanislaus principal Angelica Foy told the school community in an email, obtained by WGN.
It continued: “The teacher was immediately removed from the classroom and detained [while] we investigated the incident.
“After students were safely dismissed, the teacher was escorted off campus and we notified the police.”
Court documents reportedly show the teacher admitting to the kill list when talking to the principal and saying: “I want to kill myself, staff and students, and I did also make a kill list.
“I’m having trouble with my mental health and sometimes the kids do not listen in the classroom. I also have trauma caused when I went to high school.”
Parents Push Back On Principal
People are voicing their concerns about how long it took the principal to report the incident to the police.
East Chicago Police Chief Jose Rivera told Insider that not being notified immediately that Torres made those threatening comments impacted the investigation.
“I’m not gonna blame, put any thought on the school,” Rivera said. “I mean, they did what they felt was needed at that time and what they felt was proper according to their policies or protocol. But it does affect the investigation because if we were to be contacted while she was still in the office that she admitted to making those threats, we could have taken her into custody at that moment and not a whole 24 hours later.”
Following the incident, the school announced it would be holding virtual classes only on Friday. Counselors have also been made available for students and staff.
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