Illinois

‘I'm Scared, Very Scared': Mass Murderer Moves Into Home Near La Grange Elementary School

Parents tell NBC 5 they’re shocked a mass murderer recently released from prison moved in right across the street from a suburban elementary school.

Carl Reimann, 77, just got out of prison after serving time for killing five people in a Yorkville restaurant in 1972. Neighbors say he's living in a La Grange home with a family who took him in as part of an outreach program with their Hinsdale church. The home is across the street from Seventh Avenue School.

No one answered when a reporter knocked on the door Monday.

The school district sent out a community alert saying police are aware and are increasing patrols at the school. But there’s not much else police can do for the neighborhood. It’s a community of young families now with a new neighbor out on parole.

None of the parents NBC 5 spoke to Monday wanted their names used out of fear for their safety.

"It’s just very scary," one parent said. "I don’t even want to walk by when I’m taking the kids to the park."

"I’m scared, very scared," another said. "I don’t know if he’s going to do something or not."

Reimann and his host family are not breaking the law — Illinois only prevents sex offenders from living within 500 feet of a school.

"How could a sex offender you know, have rules but someone who’s a mass murderer, it's OK to live right across from a school?" a local mother asked.

A few neighbors disagree, telling NBC 5 off-camera that Reimann should get a second chance since he served his time. But most want to see a change.

“There should be a law that will prevent anyone with a record like that from living near schools,” a parent said.

The state’s Violent Offender Against Youth Registry requires Reimann to tell them where he’s living and prevents him from going onto school property because one of the five people shot to death was only 16.

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