Crime & Safety

Fitness Hearing Set For Jailed Former Lincoln-Way Central HS Teacher

If former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner is found to have been insane when he allegedly threatened district officials, he will be found not guilty.

A date was set to determine whether former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner was insane when he allegedly threatened district officials.

Gardner, 41, has been jailed since Jan. 16. Before that, he was receiving psychiatric treatment at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.

Gardner's attorney, Alexander Beck, said at a previous hearing that Gardner's mental state improved while he was at the hospital but has since "deteriorated."

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Gardner's fitness hearing was set for May 17.

Beck has been trying to prove that Gardner was legally insane when he allegedly made a Dec. 6 telephone call to Lincoln-Way School District Deputy Superintendent Thomas Eddy. About a week after the call to Eddy, the authorities in the Danville area—where Gardner is originally from and where he was living in December—learned of Gardner threatening to "shoot and kill" officials from the Lincoln-Way School District, a law enforcement official said.

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Authorities also reportedly learned Gardner was talking about trying to get his hands on a gun and that he told at least one person in the Danville area that he was given permission by a minister to kill someone.

If Gardner turns out to have been insane when he made the threats, he will be acquitted of the charges.


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