Months after two Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 students were killed in separate shootings that police described as gang-related, no other arrests have been made, according to authorities.
On Aug. 17, days after the new school year started, Damian Hernandez, 15, of the 900 block of Foxwood Drive in Mount Prospect, was shot. Emergency responders transported the teen from the scene of the shooting in the 1700 block of Clear Creek Bay in Palatine to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
Hernandez died five days later from his injuries. SD214 officials confirmed that Hernandez was a sophomore transfer student as of this academic year. District officials would not disclose which the six SD214 high schools Hernandez attended, and no other details or comments were provided.
So far, a14-year-old boy is charged as a juvenile with first-degree murder in this case.
Palatine police Commander Jason Watkin told Pioneer Press in December that authorities are still seeking a man named Jesus Pantoja, 18, of the Palatine area, in connection with the fatal shooting of Hernandez.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Pantoja, who remains at large. Detectives think he has likely left the country, Watkins said.
Palatine police also continue to probe the double homicide of two teens killed in September in what police described as a targeted gang shooting.
Watkins said no arrests have been made in the murders of Eduardo Alpizar, 16, of the 1900 block of Green Lane North, and Uriel Garcia, 16, of the 1200 block of East Long Valley, both addresses in Palatine, though detectives are continuing to investigate the homicides.
The pair were shot around 10 p.m. Sept. 15 in the 1800 block of Green Lane North. Police responding to reports of gunshots found the two youths. Alpizar was pronounced dead at the scene, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, according to authorities.
Garcia, a junior in the hard of hearing program at SD214’s John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital where he died. The Cook County medical examiner’s office indicated he sustained a fatal gunshot to the neck.
School district officials confirmed that Garcia was a “fun-loving” junior in the deaf and hard of hearing program at John Hersey High School.
“It comes with a heavy heart that I inform our parent community today of the passing of one of our students, Uriel Garcia Venegas,” Principal Heath McFaul wrote in a note to school families. “Uriel was a dedicated student, interested in automotives, and had plans of pursuing a career as a mechanic. Staff describe him as enthusiastic, dedicated to his school work, and fun-loving.”
Shortly after the shooting, police were able to recover the vehicle allegedly used in the incident. Watkins said police continue to believe the pair were targeted in a gang-related shooting.
With all three slain teens, authorities did not indicate either were in a gang.
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Clifford Ward is a freelancer.