By Krzys Chwala
Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was was fatally shot on Sept. 1 in Fox Lake. Although this occurred 30 miles away from Prospect High School, it was only two minutes away from English teacher Elizabeth Joiner’s home.
“People know that I live far, but I don’t think they realize I live right there,” Joiner said. “I can take a run there.”
At 1:06 p.m. during her seventh-period Honors World Literature and Composition class, she received a call, but she did not take it because she was in the middle of teaching. She later learned her son’s school was calling that school was cancelled for the rest of the day. Busses did not take their routes, and each student had to be individually picked up.
Her husband picked up their son, and each student was escorted to his or her car.
According to Joiner, the rest of the day was unsettling.
“I’m a little freaked out,” Joiner said. “[The police] haven’t caught [the suspects] yet. I live in the woods. It seems silly because I’m not a scaredy-cat, but I’m freaked out. I usually leave my garage open, and there are bikes all over the lawn, but last night I was like, ‘I can’t do that.’”
Joiner found seeing policemen with large weapons and armored cars most unsettling.
Spanish teacher Leigh Sapp lives about 20 minutes away from Fox Lake, and although she doesn’t think she was greatly affected, she was worried because her daughters would be home alone for up to half an hour before she would return.
“I was worried about her, so I stayed on the phone with her until I got home,” Sapp said.
Sapp’s sister-in-law, like Joiner, lives just a few minutes away from the incident location. Sapp received a text message from her, expressing her thanks for all of the teachers who helped their kids and for nothing happening to her own family.
According to Joiner, the area has a larger impoverished population than Mount Prospect and has more criminal activity. Just last week, someone tried to rob a liquor store and the owner killed him in self-defense.
Due to the pressure to catch the suspects, Joiner believes the police officer dying hasn’t received the appropriate reaction.
“It’s really sad that that police officer died, and it’s almost getting lost in the mix,” Joiner said. “He died. That’s terrible. That’s the sad story.”