Teacher injured in Jefferson Elementary incident

An incident on the campus of Jefferson Elementary School in Cape Girardeau last month resulted in emergency medical treatment for a teacher suffering from what authorities described as a "self-inflicted" wound to the neck.

According to archived emergency communications transmissions, the incident occurred at about 4:45 p.m. Sept. 27 on the campus at 520 S. Minnesota Ave. The original call came to Cape Girardeau Fire Department, which responded to the scene in search of a "50-year-old male" teacher who had suffered a wound to his neck. He was said to be bleeding. The transmissions did not indicate what type of instrument caused the wound.

Before emergency responders could arrive on the scene, another call from the reporting party — unidentified in the transmissions — said the man had fled.

Dispatchers sent police officers to the scene to locate the man, staging medical personnel several blocks away until the scene was secure. Police on scene asked dispatchers to contact local hospitals to see whether the man had sought treatment. A police transmission from the area indicated a "passerby" had told an officer a teacher had "barricaded" himself in a classroom.

Found quickly

Police located the man within minutes, about a block away from the school, in the 1700 block of Henry Street. He was said to be lying in bushes near a ditch. A police transmission indicated the man was unconscious but breathing. Medical personnel quickly arrived on scene, administered aid and transported the man to a local hospital.

It was unclear Tuesday what action, if any, police took in the matter afterward, though the teacher has not taught at the school since the incident, according to school officials.

The incident did not come to light until earlier this week. For some time, Cape Girardeau Police Department's website has not recorded any new incidents, and it was not clear an incident occurred at Jefferson Elementary School from fire department reports, because the department's reporting of daily runs does not include the specific address of the calls.

Emailed messages to the police department Tuesday and Wednesday requesting information about the incident did not result in the department releasing any information about the incident.

On Tuesday, Kristin Tallent, communications director for the Cape Girardeau School District, confirmed an incident occurred at the school but said medical privacy law restricted the information she could release.

"Police were called to the school which resulted in first responders coming to Jefferson Elementary for a serious medical incident involving a staff member," she wrote in an email. "There were no students in the room or involved. The teacher received medical treatment and has not returned to the classroom. An email was sent to families of the students who were in the after school program at Jefferson at the time of the serious medical incident. The school was put on a soft lockdown but students and staff members in the building during that time were never in danger. The District cannot comment regarding medical situations relating to employees."