A 15-year-old boy who was among two youngsters who were wounded Thursday afternoon in a shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood has died from his injuries, Chicago police said.
Alex Durante, of South Shore, was pronounced dead late Thursday night, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy is scheduled for Saturday.
Alex and a 12-year-old boy had a physical squabble with an “unknown number” of people in a vacant lot in the 600 block of West 47th Street about 3:45 p.m., when one of the others pulled a handgun and opened fire, police said.
Police: 2 youths critically wounded in Back of the Yards shooting
The boys were taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where they were both initially reported in critical condition, officials said.
The shooting prompted a soft lockdown at nearby Tilden High School, which had after-school programming underway at the time, according to an email sent from Tilden Principal Dawn Ramos to parents and guardians. No students or staff were injured, Ramos said.
In the wake of the shooting, Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th, went to X to address the incident.
“Today the 15th Ward experienced a shooting near Tilden High School. If having national guardsmen on hand to increase uniform presence keeps our youth from getting shot, what’s the damn problem?” he wrote, referencing the recent threats by President Donald Trump to target Chicago next for a military occupation
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. “Neither (Gov. JB Pritzker) & (Mayor Brandon Johnson) are providing real solutions for my constituents.”Detectives were conducting a homicide investigation.