Teacher Kills Superintendent at Staff Meeting, Police Report

A high school teacher walked out of a staff meeting Thursday and came back with a gun, killing the superintendent and wounding two other people, police said.

The shooting at Chelsea High School happened about an hour after classes ended.

The suspect reportedly left the room where administrators and staff were meeting, returned moments later with the gun and opened fire. He then went to another building where he was arrested, police said.

“I found him sitting in a chair in the classroom by himself. He said ‘Hi,’ and he was taken into custody,” Police Chief Lenard McDougall said of the suspect. “He was quiet, very quiet.”

McDougall would not release the man’s name. Students and co-workers identified the suspect as Steve Leith, a science teacher.

A 9-millimeter semiautomatic gun was found outside the building, police said. A motive for the shootings was not known.

Joseph Piasecki, 47, superintendent of the Chelsea schools, died at Chelsea Community Hospital of multiple gunshot wounds, spokeswoman Kathleen Griffiths said.

Principal Ronald Mead, 43, was reported in good condition with a gunshot wound in the left leg. English teacher Phil Jones was treated at the hospital for a stomach wound and released.

“This is a small, close-knit community,” Griffiths said of the village about 15 miles west of Ann Arbor. “This has been devastating for us.”

“People get heart attacks, they fall and break their leg,” said ambulance worker Dale Berry. “As far as assault shootings, it doesn’t happen here. At least not like this. It’s a very peaceful school district.”

McDougall said he did not know what the meeting between school administrators and staff was about.