Teacher, 44, dies in Lawrence Co. classroom

NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) — An autopsy is set on a 44-year-old teacher who died shortly after collapsing while tutoring four students during lunchtime at a western Pennsylvania high school.

Lawrence County Coroner Russell Noga says Neshannock High School teacher John Thompson, of Grove City, had a family history of heart problems. The autopsy was set for today.

Noga says Thompson collapsed Thursday and was pronounced dead a short time later at Jameson Hospital in New Castle.

School superintendent Mary Todora says Thompson was tutoring four students when “he just fell over.”

Students summoned another teacher, and a school nurse tried to revive Thompson with cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Thompson was hired in 1994.