Ohio bishop calls for prayer after teacher stabbed at Catholic school

Published: 2008-02-08

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (CNS) -- Columbus Bishop Frederick F. Campbell asked for prayers Feb. 7 following the stabbing of a teacher at Notre Dame Elementary School in Portsmouth. Police said William Michael Layne, 46, of Portsmouth, stabbed his estranged wife, Christi Layne, 53, inside her fifth-grade classroom at about 9 a.m. She was listed in critical but stable condition at Cabell-Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va. None of the 17 students in the classroom were reported injured. Police said a gunshot was reported in the building and a gun was recovered from the scene, but they were unsure whether the teacher was shot. Following the stabbing, police said Layne barricaded himself inside a house. Officers entered the building at about 1:30 p.m. and found him dead. He apparently shot himself. "I was deeply distressed to learn of these events in Portsmouth, Ohio, and I ask that all people join with me in prayer for the students, staff and families of Notre Dame Elementary School," Bishop Campbell said in a statement.

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