Custodian Identified as Shooter in Murder-Suicide at Chicago's Mark Twain Elementary

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the man found dead inside Mark Twain Elementary School earlier this week as 63-year-old Theottis James Stigger, confirming his death was a suicide following the fatal shooting of a co-worker inside the Southwest Side school.

Stigger and a 48-year-old woman were found shot inside the Garfield Ridge school building Monday afternoon, according to Chicago police and school officials. Both worked as custodians at Mark Twain Elementary, located in the 5100 block of South Lotus Avenue. The medical examiner's office has not released the woman's identity but confirmed she was the homicide victim in the case.

Police said they received a call around 3:40 p.m. Monday reporting shots fired inside the school. Officers arrived to find both custodians with single gunshot wounds to the head. Paramedics took them to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Radio traffic captured during the police response included officers relaying that a woman was found in a hallway and that the shooter had turned the gun on himself. One transmission noted a firearm was recovered next to Stigger's body.

The school's principal said no students were present when the shooting happened. Mark Twain Elementary, like other Chicago Public Schools buildings, was between sessions with staff preparing facilities ahead of the coming school year. That timing kept the building largely empty of children, though staff members were on site.

Chicago police have not disclosed a motive or detailed the relationship between Stigger and the woman he killed. Area One detectives are handling the investigation, and no additional information about what led to the shooting has been made public.

Parents in Garfield Ridge are preparing to send children back to Mark Twain Elementary in the coming weeks and have raised questions with school administrators about security measures inside the building.

CPS has not announced changes to staffing or security protocols at the school in response to the shooting. The district typically defers detailed comment on personnel matters and ongoing police investigations, and no public statement from CPS leadership addressing the incident directly has been issued beyond confirming the shooting took place after hours with no students present.

The union representing school custodians in Chicago acknowledged the deaths of the two employees, though it has not released further details about either victim's tenure or role within the building. Custodial staff often work extended or irregular hours during the summer to prepare classrooms and building systems before students return. During that time, employees can be alone or in small groups inside otherwise empty school buildings.

No charges are pending given Stigger's death, and the case will be closed out through the medical examiner's ruling and the police department's final report. Area One detectives have not said when that report might be completed or whether additional details about the shooting's circumstances will be released.

Mark Twain Elementary is expected to open for the new school year as scheduled. CPS has not indicated any changes to that timeline because of the shooting.

Anyone experiencing a mental health or suicide crisis can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.