Prosecutor makes case against Will County sheriff’s deputy charged with disorderly conduct

Several staff members at St. Mary Catholic School in Mokena testified that an off-duty Will County sheriff’s deputy was behaving erratically, angrily and yelling while demanding the removal of a student he believed posed a threat to the school.

Stephen Warunek, the school’s business manager, testified in the jury trial against Ed Goewey, 46, on Wednesday that he was told by a receptionist on Dec. 3 of a possible live shooter in the school and Goewey was there to stop them.

“As soon as I heard that, I ran over and hit the panic button,” Warunek said.

However, Warunek testified he eventually learned the situation was actually a heated dispute between Goewey and other school staff.

Those other staff testified Goewey, whose children attended the school, was upset about one student he believed made a threat, and wanted the child removed from the classroom. A few of those staff said Goewey ignored their repeated requests not to go to the second floor of the school where the classrooms were located.

“He crossed the line,” said Father Sam Conforti, one of several people who spoke with Goewey on Dec. 3, for what Conforti described as a “long negotiation” to get him to leave the second floor.

Mokena Police Department Sgt. Jason Louthan said when he responded to the incident, Goewey indicated he was armed by gesturing toward his hip.

Warunek, Conforti and Louthan were three of six witnesses called by Special Prosecutor William Elward to testify in his case against Goewey. In February, Elward charged Goewey with the misdemeanor offense of disorderly conduct.

A jury will decide whether Goewey is guilty of the offense. The trial began Wednesday and is expected to continue Thursday.

Elward said Goewey was angry, armed and not listening to school staff on Dec. 3. Elward said Goewey intended to pull a child out of class whom he believed made a threat against the school.

Goewey’s attorney Robert Bodach said police and parents were not notified of allegations regarding a student making a threat on Dec. 1. He said Goewey, a trained law enforcement professional, went to the school to determine whether school staff handled the incident properly and never behaved aggressively toward anyone.

“He knows there is more they need to do to protect all the other children,” Bodach said.

Bodach said that Goewey and other parents were also concerned because of a mass shooting that occurred on Nov. 30 at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan.

Aaron Minix, a teacher at the school, said on Dec. 1, he learned that a student had reported that a student made a statement about “tonight being the last night” or “tonight being your last night” and notified the school’s principal of the incident.

Minix said following his discussion with the child’s mother, they mutually agreed to have a counselor meet with the child on Dec. 2.

He said there was no explicit mention of the child having a gun or a weapon. When Bodach asked him if he had considered contacting the police about the incident, Minix said he couldn’t recall if he considered it or not.

Minix was one of the people involved in the confrontation with Goewey on Dec. 3. He testified that he felt angry about Goewey’s actions and he was concerned about him subjecting the child he wanted removed to a “vigorous and illegal search.”

“I was afraid the child would be scarred emotionally,” Minix said.