A retired Evergreen Park special education teacher shot and killed Tuesday evening on the Dan Ryan Expressway is being remembered for her dedication to her students.
Denise M. Huguelet, 67, was shot around 10 p.m. in the southbound lanes near 63rd Street, according to Illinois State Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A state trooper nearby heard the gunshots and chased a vehicle speeding from the area, state police said. With the help of a police helicopter, troopers arrested two people from the car and recovered a handgun. No charges have been filed.
Huguelet, of Orland Park, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. She died from a gunshot wound to her back, according to autopsy results released Wednesday.
Huguelet was a special education teacher for 24 years at Central Middle School, according to a statement from Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124.
“Her passion for students and her dedication to the community showed in all aspects of her work,” the school district said in a Facebook post.
“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. She cared deeply about the academic needs of students, and the social and emotional well-being of every students’ needs,” the post reads.
“An Evergreen Park native, she was a dear friend to many colleagues who will remember her character as pure, honest, fair and kind. She was an incredible woman whose memory will always be with us.”
Shootings on Chicago area expressways have more than tripled over the last three years.
There have been 156 shootings on expressways so far this year, outpacing the 128 shootings seen in all of 2020, according to state police figures. There were 52 shootings in all of 2019.
The Dan Ryan Expressway has seen the largest share of shootings. Fifty shootings this year were reported on the Dan Ryan (I-90/94), according to state police. The Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) has the second highest number of shootings at 34, followed by the Bishop Ford (I-94) with 25 shootings.
The Kennedy Expressway has had five shootings this year, while the Edens has had three.
In February, Illinois State Police were given $12.5 million to install high-definition surveillance cameras to deter and solve expressway shootings.
