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SERVING DEKALB COUNTY SINCE 1879
Murder charges brought in shooting
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Bomb threat evacuates NIU
Alleged shooter held on $2 million bond By KATIE SMITH ksmith@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Prosecutors decided to charge only one man with first-degree murder after a fatal shooting in DeKalb, in which two people were arrested. Christopher J. Gerken, 25, of the 700 block of South Main Street, Sycamore, remains charged with first-degree murder after police say he shot and killed Matthew J. Clark, 23, who was originally from Bloomingdale but had been staying at a house at 817 Pleasant St. in DeKalb. Gerken’s bond is set at $2 million. Gerken was arrested Christopher Wednesday morning after Gerken leading police on a chase that began on Peace Road in DeKalb and ended at routes 38 and 47 in Elburn. He must post $200,000 to be released. If he is found guilty, he could face 45 to 85 years in prison or a life Trevor sentence. Motsinger Meanwhile, prosecutors decided not to press first-degree murder charges against Trevor D. Motsinger, 25, of the 100 block of Home Drive in DeKalb, Assistant State’s Attorney Duke Harris said. “Based on what was submitted to our office, I did not believe there was probably cause to file the first-degree murder charges at this point,” Harris said. Motsinger cooperated with authorities after his arrest and during subsequent questioning, Harris said. Motsinger had about a quarter-ounce of cocaine on him when he was arrested, court records show. He is charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, which is punishable by one to three years in prison. His bond has been set at $5,000 and he must post $500 bail
See SHOOTING, page A5
Mary Beth Nolan – mnolan@shawmedia.com
New Hall East residents Tyler Stern and Kate McCann pass time Thursday at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center after being evacuated from their dorm after a bomb threat.
Officials determine threat was hoax after campus search By RHONDA GILLESPIE rgillespie@shawmedia.com ADAM POULISSEapoulisse@shawmedia.com DeKALB – A bomb threat at Northern Illinois University Thursday evening evacuated campus for nearly three hours. Shortly after 9 p.m., university officials announced the threat was a hoax. It was one of a series of threats called in to area colleges this week. However, police were conducting building-by-building searches to be safe, NIU officials said. “We are taking no chances with the safety of our students, facul-
ty and staff,” NIU President Doug Baker said in a written statement. “We apologize for the inconvenience but clearly must err on the side of caution.” The threat came in to the NIU Police and Public Safety just after 6 p.m., NIU spokesman Brad Hoey said. “We initiated our emergency protocol, which sent out text messages and used our other communication channels to be able to get that information out to the campus community,” he said. The Naperville and Rockford campuses also were shut down after the threat as a precaution,
Hoey said. He said the first building swept at DeKalb as part of the investigation was the Convocation Center, because it was where students who couldn’t go home or to other alternate off-campus locations were sent as part of the evacuation. J ames Gorman walked amid a group of other NIU students Thursday, trying to locate a friend’s off-campus apartment. Gorman said that between 6 and 6:30 p.m., an NIU police officer with a K-9 came into his chemistry class being held in the La Tourette Hall. “He told us to leave the build-
ing,” he said. “A lot of my lab mates were [scared]. They have children and families.” Gorman called home to St. Louis to let his mom and dad know what what going on. “I called them immediately because I didn’t want my mother to have to find out about this through some other route. I definitely thought she would be scared,” said Gorman, 21, who is majoring in biochemistry. A Midnight Madness basketball event at the Convocation Center took place at the same time students were sent there for
See THREAT, page A6
Ex-Chicago Public Schools CEO to plead guilty By MICHAEL TARM and SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – The former CEO of Chicago Public Schools plans to plead guilty to corruption charges announced Thursday that allege she helped steer more than $23 million worth of no-bid contracts to education companies in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who resigned earlier this year as leader of the nation’s third-largest school district, “takes full responsibility for her conduct,” said her lawyer, Mi-
chael Scudder. He said she would plead guilty at a later date to charges in the indictment, which also accuses the companies’ owners of offering Byrd-Bennett a job and one-time payment – disguised as a lucrative signing bonus – once she left CPS, which is facing a steep budget shortfall and a severely underfunded pension system. “If you only join for the day, you will be the highest paid person on the planet for that day,” one of the executives wrote in an email to Byrd-Bennett about the bonus, according to the indictment. The indictment alleges that
Byrd-Bennett expected to receive kickbacks worth 10 percent of the value of the no-bid contracts, or about $2.3 million. It’s unclear how much money was set aside, although the indictment says two trust accounts tied to her relatives – identified only as Relatives A and B – were set up to help hide the money. Prosecutors allege the scheme started in 2012, the same year Mayor Rahm Emanuel chose her to become CEO of the nation’s third largest school district. Emanuel released a statement Thursday saying he was “saddened and disappointed to learn about the criminal activity” that led to the indictment.
“Our students, parents, teachers and principals deserve better,” the Democrat said. Byrd-Bennett, 66, is charged with several counts of mail and wire fraud; each count carries a maximum 20-year prison sentences. U.S. attorney Zachary Fardon said the indictment accuses her of “abusing her power to line her own pockets and those of her co-defendants.” The longtime educator stepped AP file photo down from the post about four months ago, amid a federal investi- Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara gation into a contract between the Byrd-Bennett has been indicted on corrupdistrict and SUPES Academy, a tion charges after a federal investigation
See CHARGES, page A5
into a $20 million no-bid contract. Bennett was indicted Thursday.
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Former controller files civil rights suit against university / A3
D-427’s Countryman joins Iowa alumni group’s board / A4
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