Anthony Annunziat is recognized at the Memorial to Fallen Educators located at the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.

In recent years there have been numerous dedicated teachers who have lost their lives at work, but in actual fact school shootings have been occurring for decades. One of these was the murder of Anthony Azzunziat, a business education teacher in New Haven, Connecticut, who has shot at school in 1978 in an attempted robbery.

Anthony was a 20-year veteran of the classroom at Wilbur Cross High School, a four-year high school located in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. The school is named after Connecticut Governor Wilbur L. Cross. As an educator passionate about his work, Anthony fervently believed hands-on practice and real-world experiences were a important extension to his classroom curriculum. To this end, the innovative teacher was working with his students to run the Wilbur Cross student store on the morning of December 14, 1978. Suddenly, a street gang of armed teenagers entered the store and demanded the cash box. When the intrepid teacher refused to hand it over, he was shot point-blank in the abdomen. The educator passed away on the operating table later that day. He was just 56 years old.

Anthony’s widow decided to continue her husband’s legacy when, after her husband’s death, she decided to go back to school to become a teacher. Another change that followed the shooting was the decision by the New Haven Education Department to hire security guards to patrol the high schools and some middle schools to provide more security for staff and students.

Anthony’s name and story are part of the Memorial for Fallen Educators sponsored by the National Teachers Hall of Fame located in Emporia, Kansas.To read more about Anthony Annunziata, click on his biography at the Memorial at NTHF Memorial. To learn more about the National Teachers Hall of Fame, click on NTHF.