School safety more than a calling for archdiocese's new anti-violence chief

Like everyone else, school safety is on Phil Andrew's mind a lot these days.

But for Andrew, the former FBI agent recently named director of violence prevention initiatives for the Archdiocese of Chicago, preventing tragedies like those we've seen in Parkland, Florida, and Newtown, Connecticut, is more than just a professional calling.

He knows what it's like to be on the other side of a school shooter's gun.

Andrew was a 20-year-old college student in May 1988 when a woman armed with two guns broke into his Winnetka home and held him and his parents hostage for hours.

He didn't know it then, but the 30-year-old woman a short time earlier had corralled a group of second-graders in their school nearby and opened fire, killing one and injuring four others.

After his parents managed to get out and police approached the home, the woman shot Andrew in the chest before taking her own life.

The experience led Andrew first to a 21-year career in the FBI and now his new role with the archdiocese, where he'll be heading up efforts to reduce violence, assist victims and get would-be perpetrators back on track.

"Being a survivor and having been shot puts in direct focus the importance of preventing situations like that from happening," Andrew told us this week. "When you take that situation apart, you see a lot of opportunity for intervention."

The archdiocese operates 214 schools across Cook and Lake counties, educating more than 76,000 students. Protecting them is central to Andrew's new mission.

The work is more than just keeping buildings secure. It's also about what students are learning in their classrooms and their interactions with one another.

"We want to build a community and culture of nonviolence," Andrew said. "We want students to know how to respond to conflict and bias in ways that don't involve violence."

Beyond the classroom

While schools are an integral part of Andrew's new mission, his work extends into the entire community. As Cardinal Blase Cupich said when he announced Andrew's appointment, the archdiocese hopes to create "a culture of peace across the Chicago area."

A big part of Andrew's job will involve reaching out to existing anti-violence programs and helping strengthen them or fill in the gaps. With about 2.2 million Catholics in Cook and Lake counties, "the archdiocese has unique assets it can bring to a unique moment in Chicago history," Andrew said.

"We know that all forms of violence cause trauma, and trauma has a ripple effect that's destroying our communities," he said.

Second chance?

An accomplice in the grisly 2011 slaying of an Arlington Heights dad beaten and stabbed to death by his teenage son is heading back to court with a chance to back out of his guilty plea.

A state appellate court ruled Tuesday that Armon Braden was not properly advised of his rights when he pleaded guilty for his role in the killing of George Nellessen. Because of that, justices ordered Braden's case back to Cook County court, where he can ask to withdraw his 2014 plea deal and take his case to trial.

Braden, 27, of Chicago, was sentenced to 22 years in prison after a negotiated plea to a murder charge. Under the deal, he admitted helping Matthew Nellessen rob and murder his 55-year-old father in the family's Arlington Heights home.

According to testimony from Nellessen's trial, Braden helped duct-tape George Nellessen to a chair and forced him to sign a check and reveal his bank account information. Authorities say Matthew Nellessen, then 19, later beat his father with a baseball bat and stabbed him in the neck with a kitchen knife. He's serving life in prison without parole.

Catching a break

Back in October, we told you about Ben Sheets, the former chief of Amtrak's Union Station operation accused of steering more than $30,000 in revenue from the "Polar Express" holiday train ride to his wife's photography business.

The 50-year-old from Downers Grove caught a big break this week when a federal judge sentenced him to three months of community confinement at a halfway house, instead of the maximum five years in prison he faced after admitting he made false statements to Amtrak investigators.

According to his attorneys, Sheets is now working as an hourly employee at a Home Depot store, with the prospect of becoming a manager. He has been forbidden, because of his conviction, from serving as a volunteer with the Boy Scouts. Before working for railroads, he had contemplated becoming a youth minister.

"The defendant's crime was small from a monetary perspective, but serious from the perspective of corruption," Terry Kinney, assistant U.S. attorney, wrote in a memorandum submitted to the court. "Benjamin Sheets, a highly paid manager who oversaw a number of employees as the head of Union Station, conspicuously used his position to line his pockets."

Worthy recognitions

Staff writer Steve Zalusky tipped us off this week to a pair of Mount Prospect police officers recently honored by the village board for their lifesaving actions.

Officer Joseph Gliner was recognized for his actions Oct. 4 when he responded to reports of a man unconscious and not breathing at a local health club. Gliner performed CPR on the man until paramedics arrived and continued lifesaving measures.

Officer Michael Nelson was honored for his actions Dec. 21 when he responded to a crash in which a car struck a utility police. When he arrived, a witness to the crash was performing CPR on the driver - who was unconscious and not breathing - through a car window, because the door was stuck. Nelson was able to pull the damaged passenger door open and took over CPR until paramedics arrived.

The witness, Anita Cerasela of Arlington Heights, also received an award for her actions.

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