PIKESVILLE — Baltimore County police are investigating the shooting death of a beloved Baltimore educator, who was found shot and killed inside of his Pikesville home.
36-year-old Shelton Stanley was the assistant principal at Dunbar High School in Baltimore, according to a district spokesperson. He was also a teacher for several years.
"City Schools mourns the loss of Shelton Stanley. He has served Dunbar High School and the entire school community well and he will be missed greatly. We extend our condolences to his family, loved ones, and all those whose lives he has impacted," the district said in a statement.
Investigators found Stanley in his home in the 4800 block of Hawksbury Road while conducting a welfare check after family members could not reach him by phone.
Police are investigating the incident as a homicide. No arrests have been made.
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"Mr. Stanley can be considered as a humanitarian. He's very, very friendly. Very welcoming," said Stanley's former student Latonya Lee.
Lee said Stanley taught her for three years at Friendship Academy of Science and Technology in Baltimore. She said she's known him since middle school and believes he's one of the reasons she was able to finish high school.
"It was always comforting to come to him and confide to him," she said.
Lee, who was also a basketball player, said Stanley made nearly all of her games. She said her nickname for him was "Stan the Man." A name he earned by way of showing students he cared about them and their future.
"You got kids that he took under his belt that is educated, planning to get their masters that are first generation, first generation students that graduated that would have not held that type of value for education if they didn't come across Mr. Stanley," Lee said.
Countless students like Lee as well as family and friends are now mourning, struggling to come to terms with the loss.
"We are just devastated completely," she said.
Lee and other students have planned a vigil to remember the life and legacy of Stanley at Friendship Academy on Thursday. It will be held at 4:30 p.m..
