DA: Teacher died trying to defend waitress in Taunton attack
George Heath, a visual design instructor at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, was stabbed and killed at the Silver City Galleria Mall.
George Heath, who was killed during a murderous spree in Taunton Tuesday night, was stabbed while trying to defend a waitress who was under attack, according to authorities.
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said the suspect, Arthur DaRosa, stabbed Heath inside a Bertucci’s restaurant as the high school teacher tried to end the rampage that left two people dead and four others seriously injured at several locations in Taunton.
“His actions of heroism should not be forgotten,” Quinn said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Heath was a visual design instructor at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, school officials said Wednesday.
“Mr. Heath was a tremendous educator with a great passion for teaching; he was influential in sparking creativity and a love of learning in all of his students,” the school’s Superintendent-Director James O’Brien said in a statement.
Heath’s widow wrote on Facebook that she is “heartbroken beyond belief.”
“My sweet, caring, adorable, funny, love of my life was stabbed at the Taunton mall last night,” Rosemary Heath wrote. “His wound was too extensive and he died. He LOVED his job, his STUDENTS, his LIFELONG friends and his FAMILY. I don’t want to discuss guns or mental health issues. I want to focus on my husband and the great life we shared together. He made me laugh SO much.”
She posted photos of her husband, asking others to share his image, saying she wanted his face to be all over the news and not that of the man who killed him.
“I love you with all my heart,” she wrote.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154792335168942&set=a.10150093360948942.294077.672148941&type=3&theater
Heath, 56, was among the victims of a seemingly random attack perpetrated by a 28-year-old Taunton man, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said Tuesday. Arthur DaRosa stabbed two women at a house on Myricks Street before driving four miles to the Silver City Galleria Mall, crashing his car into the entrance of a Macy’s. He reportedly assaulted two people inside the store before running to the Bertucci’s and stabbing two more people, according to Quinn.
DaRosa’s father told the Boston Herald that his son was mentally disturbed and claimed the devil had been making him do things. A sister said he had been hospitalized the day before the stabbings.
The violence began around 7 p.m. when DaRosa crashed a car on Myricks Street in Taunton, Quinn said. He went into a home at 270 Myricks Street, where he stabbed 80-year-old Patricia Slavin, who died of her injuries, and her daughter Kathleen, 48. Kathleen Slavin is currently in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, according the DA’s office.
Patricia Slavin
Once in Macy’s, he allegedly assaulted Wendy Ann Oliveira, 45, of Berkley, Laura Miola, 65, of Taunton, and Jucelia Gleason, 38, of Taunton. Oliveira and Gleason have both been released from the hospitals where they were treated, and authorities said Miola is expected to recover from her injuries at BWH.
After assaulting three people inside Macy’s, DaRosa went to Bertucci’s, where he armed himself with a knife and stabbed Heath and Sheenah Savoy, 26, of Taunton. Savoy was medflighted to Rhode Island Hospital and is in serious condition.
An off-duty Plymouth County deputy sheriff who was at the Bertucci’s shot DaRosa once, Quinn said. DaRosa was taken to Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, where he died
“It appears but for the actions of the deputy sheriff, there may very well have been other victims,” Quinn said.
At the press conference, Taunton Mayor Tom Hoye also praised the actions of the deputy sheriff.
“If it wasn’t for his heroic actions, there could’ve been more loss of life here this evening,” Hoye said.
“Tragedy certainly hit the city of Taunton hard this evening,” he said.
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