Family, friends mourn Spring Brook teacher killed at bar
By STephanie Lulay slulay@stmedianetwork.com February 4, 2012 1:59PM
A parent walks students to Spring Brook Elementary on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, as a sign memorializes Shaun Wild, a second-grade teacher who was killed over the weekend after being stabbed at Frankie's Blue Room in downtown Naperville. | Jeff Cagle~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 6, 2012 8:22AM
Hundreds joined together Saturday night on North Central College’s campus to mourn the death of Shaun Wild, a former student and Spring Brook Elementary School teacher who was killed in a downtown Naperville bar early Saturday morning.
Two others, including one North Central student, were injured in the incident.
Steve Hlavac, Wild’s best friend and teammate on the college’s football team, said reality hasn’t set in. The pair were roommates for four years at the college.
“I’ve never had to deal with death, really, let alone a murder,” Hlavac said after Saturday night’s vigil. “I could immediately talk to him about anything. It was an obvious sign from God that (we became friends).”
Many students addressed Wild’s parents, brother and sister, who sat in the front row at the event.
Manny Juarez, a receiver on the college’s football team, said the team can’t understand why this senseless tragedy happened.
“No matter what we come up with, it’s not going to make sense,” he said. “I know you guys lost a son, but you’ve gained an entire campus of family that’s going to back you up.”
North Central football team chaplain Gary Ireland said as a football team member, Wild took initiative, organizing practices for the punters and kickers.
“It was incredible to see that kind of leadership. No one asked him to do it,” Ireland said.
Maureen Kincaide, chairwoman of the Education Department, remembered Wild as excited by the challenge of teaching.
“He said, ‘I can’t wait to have these kids. There will be so many exciting things we can do,’” Kincaide remembered.
Arrest made
Daniel Olaska, 27, of Naperville, was arrested at the scene of the stabbing and has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Wild and two counts of attempted first-degree murder for the stabbing of two other men, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office. The three were stabbed at Frankie’s Blue Room, 16 W. Chicago Ave., at 12:48 a.m. early Saturday morning, Naperville police Sgt. Gregg Bell said.
Wild, 24, who graduated from North Central College in 2011, died in the stabbing. A resident of Lisle, Wild was a second-grade teacher at Spring Brook Elementary School in School District 204 in Naperville. He was originally from Brown Deer, Wis.
North Central senior William Hayes III, of Lemont, was seriously injured in the incident. Hayes, 22, remains hospitalized in fair condition and is expected to recover, according to Ireland. Hayes was alert and talking Saturday.
Another injured victim, a bar bouncer, was treated and released from the hospital Saturday morning.
Olaska is scheduled to appear in DuPage County bond court Sunday.
Trying to help
Wild died trying to save Hayes, sources told the Sun-Times. A bar patron had been taunting Hayes — a muscular, tattooed college senior who goes by Willie — for wearing a tight shirt, sources said. Hayes was seen arguing with the unidentified man near the dance floor at Frankie’s just before getting stabbed near the sternum. Wild tried to stop the attack and was fatally stabbed in the upper abdomen, a source told the Sun-Times.
In a letter to parents on the Spring Brook Elementary website, Principal David Worst said Wild was a highly regarded teacher. Worst said the school’s teachers will deliver the news to Spring Brook students on Monday and will have a crisis team on hand to help students cope with the news of Wild’s death.
At college, Wild served as president of the NCC Student Leaders Association of Teacher Educators and was a member of the student-athlete honor society and football team.
Ireland said Wild was a big brother to North Central students, particularly guys on the football team.
“You would be hard pressed to find anybody to say anything but glowing things about Shaun,” he said.
In a profile on NCC’s website, Wild said he wanted to become a teacher to be a positive male influence in the classroom.
“When I was in grade school, I wasn’t the best student,” Wild said in the profile. “But a couple of male teachers influenced me for good at a critical time, and I want to do the same for others.”
Hayes, a defensive end, was a football team captain last season and is finishing his degree in physical education, school officials said.
“Willie is a leader in a much more vocal way,” Ireland said. “He’s an extremely joyful, positive person, an extrovert in a great way. He was kind of the heart and soul of the team.”
At the campus dining hall Saturday, many North Central students were in tears.
“There’s a general kind of numbness on campus. Students are in shock,” Ireland said. “They are not ones to get in brawls or be troublemakers. These are two people you can’t believe this happened to.”
Core issue
The tragedy at Frankie’s Blue Room is not the first stabbing incident in downtown Naperville.
Last spring, a security guard at BlackFinn American Saloon on Jefferson Avenue was stabbed during a fight with a customer. The security guard recovered from his injuries.
The stabbing put the spotlight on Naperville’s downtown bar culture, which some have compared to a “mini-Rush Street” environment.
“The atmosphere definitely changes around 9:30-10 at night,” said City Councilman Robert Fieseler.
The Blackfinn stabbing came at a time when a new city subcommittee had begun meeting to look at changes in the rules for businesses that sell liquor downtown. The Naperville City Council last month formally created a late-night tavern permit for establishments now holding Class B restaurant licenses to better regulate establishments that stay open late.
Many members of the City Council talked to each other by phone Saturday to let each other know about the tragedy at Frankie’s.
“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out” to those injured in the incident and the family of the man killed, Feiseler said.
He said there shouldn’t necessarily be a “knee-jerk” reaction to the incident.
“We need to understand all the facts,” he said.
However, the stabbing is troubling to City Council members, Fieseler said.
“We are all concerned,” he said. “You can’t but note this is the second stabbing incident (downtown in the last year),” he said.
Councilman Paul Hinterlong agreed that the stabbing was a terrible surprise.
“We are just taking in the shock right now,” he said.
It is a troubling incident, he said.
“It is definitely something we have to take a look at,” Hinterlong said. “That’s two stabbings.”
He said the main thing is to figure out how “to prevent this from happening in the future.” He noted the city has examined the situation in the downtown area in great detail. However, “if we have to go back to the drawing board, that’s what we’ll do.”
Fieseler noted there has been a long-running debate about the “the mix” of businesses in the downtown area, and about “whether we’ve gone too far with the number of liquor establishments.”
Fieseler said the stabbing will not be treated lightly.
“The police, liquor commission and downtown businesses will be on this right away,” he said.
He again preached caution, however.
“(This incident) doesn’t necessarily indicate an out-of-control situation,” he said. “I don’t know how you would stop (this kind of thing), short of having metal detectors at every bar.”
The Sun-Times and Dan Cassidy contributed to this report.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment