Wounded Teacher Shows Improvement

Prosecutors decided not to charge one of two suspected gang members in the near-fatal wounding of an elementary school teacher, whose condition improved slightly Monday as he was observed opening his eyes for the first time.

Alfredo Perez, who was shot in the head Thursday, was still unconscious late Monday. But Dr. George Locke, chairman of the neurosurgery department at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, said there are signs of neurological progress.

“Our examination today disclosed continued improvement,” Locke said in a prepared statement. “He now opens his eyes spontaneously and has purposeful movement on the right side of his body.”

The nature of Perez’s wound, however, “is grievous and his condition remains critical,” Locke said. Perez remained on life-support systems but his vital signs were stable.

Meanwhile, Zerron Martez White, 22, was released from custody Monday. He had been suspected of being the driver of a getaway car.

“We have insufficient evidence at this time,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. “We referred it back to the LAPD for further investigation.”

White, flanked by his attorney and his mother, held a news conference Monday night in front of the Compton courthouse.

“I was just out there knocking on a door when the shooting took place,” he said. “I drove off in my car . . . to just get away and save myself.”

Frazier Joseph Francis, 18, suspected of firing the bullet that struck Perez, remains in custody. He is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Compton Municipal Court. Prosecutors are expected to file two counts of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon against him.

Detective Armando Moriel of the LAPD’s South Bureau said that on the day of the shooting, Francis fired two shots at a man driving by whom he recognized as a member of a rival Crip faction.

One of the shots strayed across the street and through a window of the Figueroa Street Elementary School’s first-floor library, where Perez had taken his class of 23 fifth-graders. The shot pierced his skull and left the children terrified.

The other shot penetrated a second-floor classroom window, but missed the 21 students there.

The shooting, which attracted national attention, shattered any illusion that students and teachers are safe in their classrooms. President Clinton called Perez’s wife, Virginia, a Huntington Park second-grade teacher, to express his sympathy. He also called the principal of the elementary school and gave the students a brief pep talk.

Mayor Richard Riordan said he was trying to find donors to cover the estimated $80,000 cost of installing bulletproof windows at the school but pledged to pay for the windows himself if necessary.

Jesus Perez said his wounded brother “has been showing signs [of improvement] . . . holding and gripping our hands.”

He said his brother seemed to gather all his strength Monday and “actually flashed his eyes open, to let us know he is there.”