PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2023

“We were all just kind of adapting and trying to process what was going on,” Ardis said. “This kind of thing was unheard-of back in 1973 – and fortunately was way less common than it is today.” Teachers cooly told the kids to stay calm. They did, until the gunman started firing out the basement windows toward the police officers who had surrounded the building. “I was terrified,” John Ardis said. “It absolutely was surreal.” Some students began to sob. Many prayed. None understood the gunman’s goals. Burch sounded chaotic and unclear. “They basically said they were there on some sort of mission,” Ardis said. “They were fine if they died. They specifically told us that for every one of (them) that was killed, they would kill 10 of us.” Then, Burch announced a new plan. SEEKING A VOLUNTEER “The main guy, Burch, said he wanted a couple volunteers to take their demands to police or a radio station. I can’t remember what it was,” Ardis said. ‘I FELT TERRIFIED THAT SOME OF MY CLASSMATES WERE GOING TO GET HARMED’ — John Ardis Burch asked for a volunteer to go outside as a hostage. Several kids raised their hands, including John Ardis. Why did he volunteer? “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I’ve gone back and forth over time. I think I thought they were going to hurt my classmates. It was just like, ‘We need to do what they say or someone is going to get hurt.’ And I think that was really it. It was just as simple as, ‘Somebody’s got to do this.’” About 2:50 p.m., Burch headed out a school door with the boy. “He tells me not to try to do anything funny,” Ardis recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t plan on it. I’m 10 years old.’”

Outside, the boy noticed a crowd of about 5,000 onlookers, including parents of schoolchildren, along with legions of police officers. “Oh my gosh,” Ardis’ screamed to himself. “There’s guns everywhere.” ‘I’VE COME TO DIE!’ He wasn’t sure what to expect from Burch, who kept his right hand on Ardis and his left hand on the gun. Firing a shot into the air, he yelled, “I’ve come to die!” He did. While leading Ardis forward, Burch stumbled just slightly, allowing a sliver of daylight between him and the boy. “It was enough for one of the snipers to take him out,” Ardis said. As Burch fell, Ardis bolted away. A fusillade of police gunfire rained down on the prone Burch. Officers grabbed Ardis and led him away from danger. He soon was reunited with his mom, then his dad.

“It was like it wasn’t real,” he said, still sounding slightly confused decades later. “It was too weird. It was too bizarre that all of this attention was suddenly going on.” For a week or two, Ardis had occa sional nightmares, prompting him to sleep with a light on. But things soon fell into a familiar rhythm. “Life just kinda went on,” he said. “It just started to fade into memory.” Ardis, who experienced no discernable emotional drag from the standoff, went on to graduate from the University of Illinois. Now retired, he worked for more than 30 years in marketing and advertising. A half-century after the standoff, he commends the poise of teachers and police, who at the time had no playbook or training regarding active shooters. “They were just going off their instincts and skills,” he said. “They did just an unbelievable job.”

Police continued to crouch around the school, as the other two gunmen remained inside with the other students. “I was scared for a time because they said for every one of them who got killed, 10 of us would get killed,” Ardis said. “Well, one of them just got killed right next to me. So I was thinking, ‘I feel

John Ardis at age 10, and at 60 today

He still marvels at the attention he got from across the globe, something he doubts would happen today. “They came flooding in from everywhere,” Ardis said. “It was amazing how far it reached. But then again, no one had hardly heard of a hostage situation” in “a grade school full of little kids. “It was unprecedented.”

fortunate.’ But I felt terrified that some of my classmates were going to get harmed.” Alas, about 90 minutes after the standoff began, the other two gunmen surrendered, with no further casualties. SUDDEN CELEBRITY Afterward, newspaper headlines trumpeted the story nationwide, triggering letters to Ardis from well wishers around the globe. He received commendations from Illinois Gov. Dan Walker and President Richard Nixon. And the 10-year-old boy felt overwhelmed by what he now calls a “circus.”

Phil Luciano is a senior writer/columnist for Peoria Magazine and content contributor to public television station WTVP. He can be reached at phil.luciano@wtvp.org

MAY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 107