Wounded Teacher Improves Very Little

After two weeks of rehabilitation treatment, wounded Los Angeles schoolteacher Alfredo Perez has made only very slight improvement, but his doctor said that was not necessarily an ominous sign.

“Of course, you want to see as much improvement as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Rick Adams, who is directing the rehabilitation at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. “However, it often takes up to a year to see the maximum recovery from a trauma injury of this type.”

Perez was shot in the head Feb. 22 in front of his fifth-grade class in South-Central Los Angeles.

Perez’s wife, Virginia, declined to comment Thursday on the condition of her husband.

Jesus Perez, the teacher’s brother, said he has seen very little improvement. Although Perez had uttered a word, “OK,” before he was transferred from Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center, he has yet to say anything since, according to his brother.

“He hasn’t changed much,” said the brother, “but any improvement is a major step.”