The neighbors in Edgewater heard the gunshots Sunday night, a violent disturbance on what they describe as a mostly quiet block. But the building they seemed to come from was no surprise.
On Monday morning, Chicago police officers were seen entering the low-rise red brick apartment complex as news spread that a 13-year-old boy had been shot on their block the night before.
According to police, officers responded to a residence on the 6000 block of North Kenmore Avenue at about 8:15 p.m., and found the boy with a gunshot wound to the head. The boy was transported to Ascension St. Francis Hospital in Evanston in critical condition, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
The boy was identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Ashawn Davis, who lived a couple of blocks from where the shooting happened.
Although police would not confirm the residence where the boy had been shot, neighbors said the apartment building police were seen entering has been a hot spot for fistfights, shootings and police activity for years. Some said they even cross the street to avoid passing by the building.
“This is a really safe neighborhood, and then every time I cross by that building, there’s shouting out of there,” said Rachel Maria, who moved to Edgewater in June. She said she has also seen a physical altercation in broad daylight outside the apartments.
Since May, the block of Kenmore between West Thorndale Avenue and West Glenlake Avenue has been the scene of five shootings, Chicago police said.
Two shootings occurred just two days apart in late May; on May 22, two men were shot in an alleyway, while on May 24 a 48-year-old man was shot in the torso. On June 6, a 23-year-old woman sitting outside her residence was the victim of a drive-by shooting. Then on Aug. 8, three days before last night’s fatal shooting, a 39-year-old man was shot on the sidewalk.
Chicago police reported two — one fatal — occurred there in the summer months of June through August 2023. But never this many in the past decade, where — at most — the block saw one shooting a summer before 2023, and typically saw none.
Multiple arrests have been made of people involved in this summer’s shootings, and efforts are underway to increase police attention and community engagement efforts on the block, said Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, 48th.
“As the mother of a teenager, my heart breaks for the family, friends and classmates of the victim,” Manaa-Hoppenworth wrote in an email to constituents on Monday. “As a community leader, I’m outraged by the gun violence in our city and community. I’m committed to continuing to partner with police and community organizations to build communities where everyone, especially our young people, feels safe.”
Manaa-Hoppenworth and her chief of staff Nicole Granacki went door to door on Kenmore on Monday to speak to residents.
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Granacki said that the alderman is encouraging residents to come forward with any information that could be relevant to the detectives’ investigation. Police have not taken anyone into custody.
Behind an iron fence, the grassy front lawn of the apartment complex was littered with food wrappers, garbage and tipped-over grocery carts. Passersby walked their dogs and carried to-go cups of coffee as detectives gathered on the street. Police were seen entering complexes up and down the street as they investigated.
Michael Ravanesi, 61, lives on the block where the Sunday shooting occurred. His home shares a back alley with the apartment building that he and other neighbors point to as the source of recent violence. He said that he now avoids sitting outside on his back porch.
“The building needs to be closed down and evacuated, there’s no end in sight,” Ravanesi said. “This needs to get boarded up until they can figure out what’s going on.”
baiduhai’s Caroline Kubzansky and Joe Mahr contributed.