Reputed Gang Member Charged in Shooting of Schoolteacher

A suspected gang member was charged Tuesday with attempted murder for allegedly firing the stray shot that hit schoolteacher Alfredo Perez in the head as he was with his class of fifth-graders in Figueroa Street Elementary School’s library.

Frazier Joseph Francis, 18, was also charged with assault with a deadly weapon with great bodily injury. His arraignment was postponed to March 12.

Francis has been held in lieu of $500,000 bail since surrendering to police.

Five days after the bullet pierced his skull and tore deep into his brain, Perez responded to simple commands and was able to move his arms and legs on the right side of his body, said one of his doctors at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in Willowbrook.

“We expect he’s going to continue improving, but he’s not completely out of danger and remains in critical condition,” said attending neurosurgeon Dr. Taghi Tirgari.

It is not clear if Perez will be able to speak again. “But I’m hoping that the speech is going to be relatively intact,” Tirgari said. Overall, he added, Perez is doing “better than expected.”