NJ School District Mourns Children Killed In Linden Murder-Suicide

LINDEN, NJ - Grief counselors will be stationed in Linden Public Schools this week after the shooting death of two middle school students, school officials said.

In a Monday letter to parents, interim superintendent Rocco G. Tomazic notified the community of the fatal home shooting at 18 Chatham Place Sunday morning, which claimed the lives of seventh grader Natalia Nieroda and eighth grader Sebastian Nieroda. Both were students at McManus Middle School, Tomazic said.

The shooting also claimed the life of the siblings’ mother Justyna; the Union County Prosecutor’s Office says the father and husband, Kryzstof Nieroda, shot his wife and two children before killing himself inside their Linden home on Sunday morning.

“The death of two young lives affects us all,” the superintendent said in a statement. “But we are determined, now more than ever, that we will do all that is possible to help our students and staff process the impact of this tragic event and to deal with the pain. Any student death affects us all. But we will never become so accustomed to loss like this that we can’t respond with empathy, understanding and care.”

The district’s crisis response plan has been activated to support students at McManus Middle School, as well as School No. 10, where both students attended elementary school. Grief counselors will be available starting Tuesday at both schools.

“We will fully support each other during these difficult times. Let us all work together towards that end,” Tomazic added.

Classmates passed by the Chatham Place home Monday night to pay respects to the 13- and 14-year-old victims, PIX11 reported. A makeshift memorial filled with candles, flowers, crosses and teddy bears could also be found outside the Nieroda residence, per video posted to Twitter by News12.