After the initial shock of hearing about the quadruple murder at a home on Western Avenue wore off, Guilderland school district officials were faced with tackling how to address the varying needs of grieving students and staff. While public attention has somewhat subsided over the last month, the grieving process is ongoing and likely long-term.
“It hit a lot of our students and faculty members very hard,” said Guilderland Elementary School Principal Allan Lockwood. “It was a devastating blow to our entire community.”
Police found four people slain inside the 1846 Western Ave. home on Oct. 6. The victims included Jin Feng Chen, his wife, Hai Yan Li, and their two sons, 10-year-old Anthony and 7-year-old Eddy. The fifth- and second-grader had attended Guilderland Elementary School since kindergarten, according to Lockwood.
Authorities have not officially released any additional information since the Oct. 9 press conference, including how the family was murdered. No suspects or motives have been publicly disclosed.
State Police, who are leading the investigation, could not be reached for comment.
Grieving process ongoing
At a recent school board meeting, Superintendent of Schools Marie Wiles thanked Lockwood for displaying “extraordinary leadership” following the tragedy and commended all district staff for their efforts.
“If a crisis is the measure of a community and how it can respond, then we have much to be proud of here in Guilderland,” Wiles said during the Tuesday, Oct. 21, Board of Education meeting. “Everybody worked together as you would only hope, but with tremendous foresight and compassion and the willingness to lend whatever helping hand needed to be lent.”
Lockwood said immediately following news of the murders, social workers and psychologists from across the district were brought in. He said this gathering of in-house staff was able to meet the needs of students for the first several days.
“We are dealing with this mostly through in-house support services with our own school counselor and social worker in the building,” said Lockwood. “We have continued to consult with many outside people as well, but have not had the need to bring in additional resources.”
School staff aimed to provide a consistent message from the beginning and reassure children that they are safe.
“A normal reaction for students when hearing about the murders is for them to be scared. So we are, first and foremost, reassuring people they are safe,” said Lockwood.
Lockwood said students can be “amazingly resilient,” and the school staff quickly focused on trying to maintain routines to provide the structure students needed. Moving forward, the school is more focused on individualized support for those in need.
“The first few days after the murders, we really took our cues from the students,” he said. “There were times classes just needed to stop and have class meetings, which were conducted with the class teacher and one of our social workers.”
He added the school is planning to support students and families for the “foreseeable future,” which is likely going to be a long-term situation.
Wiles acknowledged the grieving process is not over, and the district is continuing to focus on how it can help students and faculty.
“I will say we are not done yet by any stretch of the imagination. There will be many more weeks and months where we will continue to work through the implications for what happened here,” she said.
There is a group working on a “proper, fitting memorial” for the boys, according to Lockwood.
“We had a generous outpouring of support and love from the community, and there have been many groups that have offered to support us in any way they can, including helping with a memorial,” said Lockwood.
Remembering Anthony and Eddy
Guilderland school officials released the names of the murdered boys on Oct. 11 and said they “clearly loved each other.” The boys would walk into the school each morning together after getting of the bus and “always had smiles on their faces,” according to school officials.
“Anthony and Eddy were kind, gentle and joyful boys,” Lockwood said in a prepared statement. “Quiet by nature, they loved being in school and were friends with all of their classmates.”
School officials said Anthony loved drawing and often sketched intricate designs in his notebook, which impressed many of his friends. He always was very fond of animals and took care of the school’s therapy dog, Bailey.
He also greatly enjoyed being part of the school’s Garden Club. Club advisor Lois McDonald recounted Anthony’s passion.
“Anthony was one of the most enthusiastic members of the club,” school officials said, “and he loved the freedom of the space to explore the elements of nature he found there; figuring out how and why things worked captured Anthony’s attention. He loved planting, digging and watering and was often placed in charge of groups of students.”
Eddy also shared his brother’s love of nature and joined him earlier this fall as a member of the Garden Club, said school officials.
“Eddy was a curious and keen observer in the garden area, and was fascinated by the sunflowers gone to seed,” the district said. “He spent a recent meeting harvesting the seeds from the flower-head, carefully and gently planting and watering them. Eddy embraced the spirit of the club, and independently found areas of interest to examine and explore.”
Eddy was also “curious by nature” and “lit up” during science experiments. He also enjoyed writing stories about doing things with his family, such as bowling.
“Anthony and Eddy made a lasting impression on everyone around them. They will be greatly missed,” the district said in a statement. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to the people whose lives Anthony and Eddy touched — their family, teachers and friends.”
