Disturbance preceded fatal shooting of assistant principal
Chicago IL September 18 2023
The man who allegedly shot and killed the assistant principal of a charter school in Chicago’s downtown Loop has not been criminally charged for the Thursday shooting since he was released by police.
Abnerd Joseph, 32, an assistant principal at the downtown campus of Intrinsic Schools, was fatally shot Thursday around 7:30 p.m. in a hallway on the 48th floor of a building in the first block of East Monroe Street, which police listed as Joseph’s address.
According to a police report obtained by the Tribune, the man who shot and killed Joseph has a license to own and conceal his possession of firearms. Joseph had been knocking on residents’ doors and “causing a disturbance” before the shooting, the report said.
When a security guard, a resident and another man approached Joseph for his “erratic behavior,” the assistant principal punched the guard and resident in the face, the report said. The third man, another resident of the building who police said was licensed to own a gun and conceal carry firearms, then fatally shot Joseph with a semi-automatic pistol, the report continued. The man identified himself as the shooter at the scene, the report said.
Joseph was shot in the chest, forearm, abdomen and lower back, according to the report.
Police said the man, 45, was released Friday without being charged, and the investigation is ongoing.
Before joining Intrinsic Schools in 2022, Joseph worked in Atlanta as a school administrator, and math and science teacher, according to his staff page on the school’s website. According to his biography, Joseph had been pursuing his master’s in educational leadership with Georgia State University.
Students at the downtown campus of Intrinsic Schools will attend class virtually on Monday and Tuesday, said Chandris May, a student advocate. A group of students also organized a balloon release memorial event, to take place Monday.
Joseph always made everyone feel welcome and tried to improve school culture, May said.
