How should a teacher feel when a former student is murdered?

[MdKnightR]

I have to say that I am at a loss in more ways than one. The body of a former student of mine was found dumped alongside a dirt road not too far from here. They have a suspect in custody. Here is a link to the article...

Houston sheriff's office investigating homicide

The strange thing is that I don't remember Emmanuel being a bad kid. He was maybe a little lazy, but he was never in any real trouble. I knew the day would come when I'd find out about a student's passing, but I wasn't prepared for the death to be a murder. I guess I'm still in shock.

[DAWUSS]

I've run across several teachers who've had their former students die, whether it's natural causes or accidents or homicide...

[Jae Onasi]

Shock, sadness, disbelief, anger at the person who took his life, all of those would be appropriate and normal feelings. It's tragic to see someone that young die.

I'm always sad when I read about one of my patients' deaths in the paper. I'm fortunate in that my field doesn't regularly see patient deaths--the only time we'd see a death is if someone had a heart attack or something like that in our offices. I don't get to have the same kind of relationship that you develop with the kids you teach so it's not quite the same, but I'm always sorry to hear about someone losing their life.

[mimartin]

Originally Posted by MdKnightR

How should a teacher feel when a former student is murdered?

I would say your feelings are normal. Shock that someone so young was taken in such a brutal way is understandable. From your remarks, it seems you are also relived that they have a suspect in custody, which I also consider a normal response to what has happened. Again I don’t know, but your remarks about him never being in real trouble seems to imply that you are trying to figure out how he got in a position that would end his life. Again I would consider that a normal reaction from someone that has mentored young minds. If you didn’t care then you never would have tried the teaching profession in the first place.

I’m very sorry that you are having to go through this and my thoughts and prayers are with you.

[MdKnightR]

I've learned some more news. Apparently (according to our news) Emmanuel was a crack dealer and the guy who shot him was a regular customer. He denies shooting him and even reported that he'd be carjacked the morning afterward to police in a jurisdiction in the next county instead of the one where it was supposedly stolen. He's changed his story numerous times, but continues to deny any wrong-doing. They have yet to find the murder weapon, but the van they recovered had blood in the passenger side.

[Q]

After reading the OP I felt that shock would be an appropriate response to such a tragedy. Then I saw the words "crack" and "dealer," and the while the murder is no less tragic, it is probably far less shocking now.

Crack kills in more ways than one.

[EnderWiggin]

Originally Posted by MdKnightR

I've learned some more news. Apparently (according to our news) Emmanuel was a crack dealer and the guy who shot him was a regular customer. He denies shooting him and even reported that he'd be carjacked the morning afterward to police in a jurisdiction in the next county instead of the one where it was supposedly stolen. He's changed his story numerous times, but continues to deny any wrong-doing. They have yet to find the murder weapon, but the van they recovered had blood in the passenger side.

Wow. What a sad thing to find out.

_EW_

[Totenkopf]

Well, probably about the same as you would if any one of a number of acquaintances you've had over the course of your life were found dead/murdered. The closer the connection, the worse you'd likely feel.