Jocelyn Everage, 76, a female, was shot and killed in Berwyn, Illinois, on September 16, 2025. She was seated in a vehicle outside Lincoln Middle School when gunfire erupted in the late afternoon, prompting a lockdown at the campus and a wave of shock through the community. Reports identified the scene near 16th Street and Gunderson, with initial calls coming in around 4 p.m. as students were leaving for the day.
Investigators quickly described the attack as a domestic-related incident that also claimed the life of Everage's daughter, Nerissa Lee, an assistant principal at the school. Authorities and local reporting identified the gunman as Lee's husband, Steven Lee, who confronted the women at the curb outside the school and opened fire. Witness accounts and follow-up statements from officials underscored the suddenness of the violence and the location's proximity to students and staff dispersing for the day.
The suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, according to police and local news outlets, leaving no arrests to be made in the case. Gun-violence records and subsequent news coverage catalogued the incident as a double homicide followed by the shooter's suicide, with the school district confirming counseling resources and a temporary pause in classes before reopening.
In the days that followed, memorial listings marked Everage's death and preserved the basic facts of the case, noting her age and the Berwyn location and aligning with the timeline of a domestic-violence murder-suicide outside Lincoln Middle School. Community tributes centered on the family's loss and the school's grief as Berwyn reckoned with a rare burst of lethal domestic violence in a public place.
