DANVERS, Mass., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The Massachusetts high school where a 14-year-old boy allegedly used a box cutter to kill his math teacher reopened Friday, school officials said.
Danvers High School had been closed since Tuesday when Philip Chism allegedly killed Colleen Ritzer, 24, in one of the school's bathrooms before removing her body from the school in a recycling bin and dumping it in nearby woods.
Though the school was scheduled to open Friday, the bathroom would remain closed for the foreseeable future, said Chief Neil F. Ouellette of the Danvers Police Department. The bathroom was still considered an active crime scene, CNN reported.
On the day she was killed, Ritzer asked Chism to stay after school so she could help him prepare for a test, Rania Rhaedaoui, a freshman who sat near Chism in class, told the Boston Globe.
"He just gave a nod," Rhaedaoui said. "There was a test coming up, and she wanted to know if he had any questions."
Rhaedaoui said Ritzer made the request after she noticed Chism drawing in class.
"I didn't know you could draw," Ritzer said.
Another student said they saw Chism still in Ritzer's classroom more than an hour after the class ended, the last class of the day.
"She was standing at her computer, and he was just sitting there," Cambria Cloutier said. "It just looked normal, like any other day."
Chism was charged Wednesday as an adult in Ritzer's death and was ordered held without bail. He pleaded not guilty.
