A 67-year-old retired special education teacher was killed in a shooting on the Dan Ryan Expressway Tuesday night, officials said.
Illinois State Police troopers responded to reports of an expressway shooting on the Dan Ryan near 63rd Street about 10 p.m. One person was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, Genelle Jones, an Illinois State Police spokesperson, said in an email.
The woman was pronounced dead at the hospital at 10:41 p.m. and later identified as Denise Huguelet, 67, of Orland Park, according to information from the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Huguelet had been a special education teacher at Central Middle School for 24 years, according to a post on the Facebook page of Evergreen Park School District 124.
“Mrs. Huguelet’s nature with kids was kind, yet firm, to ensure that students were taught the independent skills they needed to be successful in their futures,” the district’s post said. “She cared deeply about the academic needs of students, and the social and emotional well-being of every students’ needs.
“She was an incredible woman whose memory will always be with us,” it continued.
Orland Park police Chief Joe Mitchell said in a statement Huguelet’s husband, Michael, is a former Orland Park prosecutor. Denise Huguelet was returning from a Chicago White Sox game when the shooting occurred, according to the statement.
State police said a trooper in the area heard the gunshots and state police air personnel responded to the shooting. During an aerial search, troopers saw a car speeding away from the area. State troopers followed the car and took two people into custody, state police said. Troopers recovered a firearm from the car, state police said.