The 16-year-old nephew of a local anti-violence activist and a 15-year-old girl he was with were shot Thursday afternoon on the border between Chicago’s Englewood and Park Manor neighborhoods.
The two, both Dunbar Career Academy High School students, were shot about 4:40 p.m. Thursday on Marquette Road over the Dan Ryan Expressway, close to the CTA 67th Street Red Line stop.
The shooting follows days of fights between students at Dunbar, according to police. Three teen girls were arrested Thursday after a disturbance at the school – a false fire alarm was activated at the school and students later got into a fight, police said. The three, two age 16 and one age 17, were all charged with misdemeanors.
Activist Andrew Holmes identified the 16-year-old boy as his nephew and said that the shooting may have stemmed from something that happened at Dunbar.
“We’re trying to figure out who it was that discharged the weapon,” Holmes said.
Holmes and police acknowledge two possible scenarios: that the boy was near or involved in a conflict with a group of bucket boys when the shooting happened, or that the shooting stemmed from days of fights and conflict inside Dunbar High School on 31st Street.
“We’re waiting on the Chicago Police Department to finish the investigation,” Holmes said.
The boy is a documented gang member, according to police, though it’s not clear whether that played a role in the shooting. Holmes said he wasn’t sure if the boy was in a gang.
“If he was, that’s something we as a family have to address quick, I mean quick. Make sure he stays in school, keeps playing basketball,” Holmes said. “I’m not denying anything whether he may or may not be into it, I just don’t know, but if he is, we need to address it and address it immediately.”
Holmes said his nephew, who is friends with the girl from school, was in surgery for two gunshots to the chest. He got out of surgery just after 10 p.m. and has been sedated since, Holmes said this morning. It’s not yet clear whether he’ll need more surgery.
“We’re taking it pretty tough,” Holmes said. “We hope he’ll pull through. If not we’ll accept the outcome whichever way it turns.”
He said that it hits home especially because his nephew used to sometimes pass flyers in the community with him to make some extra cash.
“It’s a never-ending battle. Even when it hits home, we have to stay focused,” he said. “They need to quit loving these guns more than they love human life.”
Both victims were transported in serious-to-critical condition, said Fire Department spokesman Will Knight. The boy is at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and the girl is at Comer Children’s Hospital, police said.
“Today’s incident at Dunbar Career Academy High School was resolved thanks to swift action by school staff, CPD and CPS,” a Board of Education spokesman said in an emailed statement. “…CPS will provide Dunbar with additional support and security staff today and for the rest of the week to ensure a safe learning environment and dismissal for students.”
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In other shootings:
A 23-year-old man was wounded in the Englewood neighborhood about 1:20 a.m. The man was on a porch in the 5800 block of South Sangamon Avenue when someone shot him, according to police. The man was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center.
A 28-year-old was shot in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side about 9:55 p.m. The man was grazed in the head and shot in the wrist and leg while in the 3600 block of West 16th Street, and his condition was stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital. Police are questioning someone in connection with this attack, police said.
About the same time, two men were shot in 1900 block of West 64th Street in the West Englewood neighborhood. Both men, 21 and 26, were wounded in the back. Both were taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center and later released after being treated, police said. The pair was driving when someone shot them.
In an earlier, unrelated attack on the east edge of Garfield Park, a 17-year-old boy was shot in the 100 block of North Homan Avenue about 8 p.m., Sweeney said. The teen was wounded in the calf and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition.
In the Rogers Park neighborhood, a 22-year-old man suffered a minor graze wound to his left hand about noon in the 6900 block of North Greenview Avenue, Police News Affairs Officer Janel Sedevic said. The man declined to be taken to the hospital. A man came up in a silver sedan, got out and started shooting at the 22-year-old, then fled in the same car, police said.