Man Who Wounded 14 In PA School Machete Attack Dies In Prison

DALLAS TOWNSHIP, PA — A man who was serving up to 264 years in prison for wounding 14 Pennsylvania elementary school staff and students with a machete has died, officials said.

Prison officials said William Stankewicz, 78, was found unresponsive in his cell Monday morning at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas. The Tennessee native was serving a sentence of between 132 and 264 years in prison for a 2001 attack at a York County elementary school.

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating his death, and the Luzerne County Coroner's Office has not yet determined an official cause.

Stankewicz was convicted of criminal homicide in the rampage at North Hopewell-Winterstown Elementary School in the borough of Red Lion, about 75 miles west of Philadelphia. The wounded included 11 kindergarten students and the building's principal, as the Associated Press reported.

Stankewicz was a former schoolteacher and had previously lived in York County with his ex-wife, who was still residing in the county with her new husband according to the York Dispatch.

In court, Stankewicz told the judge he committed the attack because he was angry about his divorce from his Russian-born ex-wife, and about her allegations that he molested her daughters. He said that he attacked the school because he could not find his ex-wife's home, per the Associated Press.

Several years before, Stankewicz had threatened to kill his ex-wife and her daughters. After he unsuccessfully sought to get her deported, he threatened immigration officials and a Pennsylvania congressman. He served two years in federal prison for the threats.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.