2 teens shot dead on Chicago’s South Side
Two teens shot dead on Chicago’s South Side
CHICAGO — An argument near a South Side alternative high school erupted into gunfire near a Chicago commuter train station Wednesday afternoon as gunmen chased down two boys and shot them to death, Chicago police said.
The confrontation began around 3 p.m. at Youth Connection Charter School at 10 W. 35th St. near the Bronzeville neighborhood, Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said on the scene.
The two boys, 16 and 17, ran west on 35th Street toward the Red Line and Guaranteed Rate Field as the shooters fired at them, Johnson said. Police did not know what sparked the argument, he said.
The 17-year-old was shot in the chest, abdomen and face and was taken to Stroger Hospital. The 16-year-old was shot in the body and taken to University of Chicago Medical Center.
Police said they believe the boys may have been students at the high school, which describes itself online as “serving Chicago’s at-risk youth” with the help of communitybased organizations.
The attackers, possibly as many as three, sped north on LaSalle Street and east on 31st Street in a beige Ford Explorer, police said. No one was in custody, but Johnson said detectives have a “very good eyewitness.” Investigators also will be reviewing surveillance video.
“We have to do a better job as a society of holding people that commit these types of crimes accountable,” Johnson said.
The area of the shooting, near the border of the Bronzeville and Armour Square neighborhoods, was busy with pedestrians Wednesday afternoon. The crime scene stretched from State Street to the entrance of the Red Line, near the Illinois Institute of Technology campus.
The shooting happened near a Metra Station and between the heavily trafficked Green and Red Line stations, not far from the Chicago Police Department’s headquarters.
Carl Wiley said he was sitting at an outdoor Starbucks patio on State Street with two others when shots rang out as dozens of children from a nearby school streamed along the streets.
“It sounded like 15 shots,” said Wiley, 31, a social worker who works with clients on the South Side. The rhythm of the shooting sounded like an exchange of gunfire.
“We actually thought it was fireworks from Sox Park. We thought maybe there was a game going on and there was a home run or something. But the cadence of the shots was pretty clear,” Wiley said. “School had just let out. There were a ton of kids all over the street.”
A short time later, as he moved toward a Metra overpass, he said he saw numerous shell casings in the street.
The shooting brought back fearful memories for Wiley, who said he was at an ice cream shop pelted with gunfire earlier this summer.
“I thought I was fine, but when I heard that shot I felt as scared as I did that time I had just been shot at. I wish I could be more calm in these type of situations, but this seemed to hit close to home and it’s getting pretty scary,” he said.
CTA spokeswoman Irene Ferradaz said Red Line service had not been affected. Metra was not affected either, said spokesman Michael Gillis.
In other shootings Wednesday:
• A 32-year-old man was shot in the shoulder around 8:25 p.m. in the 7600 block of South Hamilton Avenue in the South Side’s Gresham neighborhood, police said. He was stabilized on scene.
• About 6 p.m., a 16-year-old boy was shot in the ankle in the 2200 block of West Maypole Avenue. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was in good condition.
• A 27-year-old man was wounded in the upper leg’ about 5:10 p.m. in the 5800 block of South Michigan Avenue in the Washington Park neighborhood. He was listed in critical condition at University of Chicago Medical Center.
• Two people were shot about 2:10 p.m. in the 900 block of North Harding Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. One person was wounded in the hip and back, the other in the arm. They were taken to Stroger Hospital, police said.
• A 17-year-old boy accidentally shot himself around 1 p.m. in the 2900 block of South Wabash Avenue in the Bronzeville neighborhood as he went back to “settle” an argument he had earlier with an acquaintance. On his way there, he shot himself in the leg with the gun he was carrying. The boy was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but police did not release his condition.