Sandy MaloneEast Chicago, IN – A 5th grade teacher at a private Catholic school in Indiana was arrested on Wednesday after she allegedly told a classroom of students that she had a “kill list” with at least one student on it.
The incident was reported to a school counselor at about 12:45 p.m. on Oct. 12 at St. Stanislaus School in the 4900-block of Indianapolis Boulevard, WTHR reported.
A 5th grader reported that her teacher – later identified as 25-year-old Angelica Carrasquillo-Torres – had made comments to her class about killing herself and killing other staff and a student.
The student said Carrasquillo-Torres said she had one student who was at the bottom of her list, WTHR reported.
Police said school administrators immediately escorted Carrasquillo-Torres to the principal’s office where she told the principal she that she had said those things and that she did in fact have “kill list.”
Instead of calling the police at that point, the principal told Carrasquillo-Torres to leave and not return to the school, according to ABC News.
“During the conversation the teacher named a specific student on her list, but did not provide the list,” police said. “The principal then advised the teacher to leave and not return to school pending an investigation.”
East Chicago police were not notified of the threat at the school until about 5 p.m., four hours after school administrators sent the suspect home.
The Criminal Investigations Division got an emergency detention order for Carrasquillo-Torres from the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office the next day and arrested her, WTHR reported.
She was taken into custody at her home in Griffith at about 11 a.m. on Oct. 13.
The teacher has been charged with intimidation in a threat to commit a forcible felony, WTHR reported.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
East Chicago is located about 160 miles west of Indianapolis, WTHR reported.
St. Stanislaus School has students from kindergarten through 8th grade and is part of the Catholic Diocese of Gary.
Holly Matkin
