An assistant principal and her mom were gunned down outside her suburban Chicago middle school by her husband, who then turned the gun on himself after shooting at cops.
Nerissa Lee, 46, and her 76-year-old mother were killed at the end of the school day Tuesday while sitting in a car outside Lincoln Middle School in Berwyn, a few miles from Chicago, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Lee’s husband, Steven T. Lee, pulled up beside them and shot them with a rifle, cops said.
The husband then fired at responding police officers before shooting himself in the head, police said.
One horrified witness reported hearing almost two dozen gunshots.
“It was really like 20 times … very noisy, so they made me come to the front. When I came over here, I see by the corner — right there — police,” Maria Meriz, who lives next to the school, told NBC 5.
Gruesome video shows blood on the sidewalk next to two vehicles parked in the middle of the road, blocked off with crime scene tape.
Lee’s sister said that Tuesday’s horrific incident “didn’t come out of the blue,” and that the married couple’s relationship had deteriorated since “the tail end of June.”
“And basically the boiling point would have been [Tuesday],” Shana Everage told NBC 5.
“It’s a horrible thing… I have a lot of emotions. I don’t quite know what to feel,” Everage said.
The murder-suicide has shocked the suburban town of Berwyn, which last year was ranked as the 33rd safest mid-size city in America in a study by national security review platform Safewise.
The educator had a personality that “a lot of teachers don’t have now,” a former student, Hailey Bedoy, 16, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“She always had a bubbly personality. She was very invested in her students,” Bedoy said. “She accomplished a lot, she lived her life and she was a really great human being. And that’s how she should be remembered.”
Another former student said she bonded with Lee over a mutual love of Ice Cube and Dr Dre when she did a presentation on the rappers.
“She was always open to having a conversation or helping someone in need, and always checking in on us. She was always willing to be there in the harder times,” Hannah Zuniga, 16, told the Sun-Times.
Classes were due to resume on Thursday with counselors on-site, the school district said in a statement announcing Lee’s death.
“It is with great sadness that I announce to you that Nerissa Lee, Assistant Principal at Lincoln Middle School, lost her life in [Tuesday’s] tragic shooting that occurred outside of Lincoln,” read the statement signed by Superintendent Dr. Michelle Smith.
“The impact of this loss is deeply felt not only within the school community but throughout Berwyn. Assistant Principal Lee was a dedicated educator and leader who touched the lives of countless students and staff members,” Berwyn Police Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
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