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Substitute teacher worked at school while facing attempted murder charge

Posted at 2:25 PM, May 10, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-10 14:25:52-04

CICERO, Ill. - A man from Tinley Park who was charged with attempted murder last summer was working as a substitute teacher at a school in Cicero.

Six months after Andres Rodriguez, 39, got his teaching job in Cicero, school officials say they found out the charges and placed him on administrative leave, according to WGN.

Last August,  Rodriguez was hired as a substitute teacher and after school detention monitor at Unity Junior High with the promise of a full-time job in the fall. He was hired a month after being charged with attempted murder in Tinley Park.

Prosecutors allege Rodriguez was walking in a neighborhood when he got into an altercation with a motorist, pulled out a gun and shot him seven times.  Several of those shots were allegedly fired over the man while he lay in the street.

The man was also armed but didn’t shoot.

Bullets hit him in his side, back, arm and behind his ear.

Both men have concealed carry permits.

Rodriguez’s lawyer says it wasn’t attempted murder but self-defense.

At the time of the shooting Rodriguez was teaching in Joliet and was placed on administrative leave because of the charges.

The Joliet school district did not know Rodriguez had gotten a new job until last week. He had been collecting paychecks from both districts.

Rodriguez is out on bond awaiting trial.

Cicero District 99 released the following statement: