PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — A man charged into a school where his estranged wife was a teacher, firing a gun before stabbing her Thursday morning as her fifth-grade class watched, police said. He later was found dead in his home after apparently shooting himself.
The teacher, Christi Layne, was in critical condition in nearby Huntington, W.Va.
Police originally said William Michael Layne, 56, shot his wife at Notre Dame Elementary, but Chief Charles Horner said it was unclear whether a gunshot fired in the school hit her.
Minutes before the teacher was stabbed, police said, her husband stabbed and wounded another woman in an alley about five blocks from the school.
Horner said at a news conference that he did not know whether that victim, Stephanie Loop, 22, knew the teacher. Loop was also in critical condition.
Christi Layne had filed for divorce Jan. 25.
The shooting happened about 9 a.m. One of the students, Emmaly Baker, said she hid in the classroom’s coatroom when the gunman came in.
“We heard gunshots, and we heard her yelling. I was scared,” she told WSAZ-TV. “The police officer came and got us, and she was still laying there and she was hurt really bad.”
The assailant fled, and a SWAT team surrounded a house about 2 miles away. William Layne was inside and apparently shot himself in the head with a shotgun.
