The shooting was at least the fourth this year near a CPS school. A few minutes after noon, paramedics were called to 5035 S. East End Ave. to a call that a teenager had been shot multiple times, said CFD spokesman Larry Merritt. “He was DOA,” Merritt said, adding that the teenager was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center. According to Chicago police spokeswoman Officer Michelle Tannehill, the boy, 17, was shot in the head while standing outside. “An unknown assailant approached and began shooting at the victim,” Tannehill said in an emailed statement. Merritt said earlier that the victim was 15 years old. The shooter fled in a possible dark-colored vehicle, but no arrests have been made, according to Tannehill. Kenwood Academy, 5015 S Blackstone Ave., is just a few blocks from the East End Avenue address. At about 1:25 p.m., Kenwood Principal Karen Calloway sent a note to parents of students saying a “member of our school community” was involved and the school was placed on lockdown. “This afternoon, we received reports that shots were fired near our school and that a member of our school community had been injured,” the note said. “The Chicago Police Department and paramedics responded to the scene quickly to provide support. While the police responded, we kept the students indoors as a safety precaution.” “Today we chose to do a ‘soft’ lockdown and canceled the off-campus meal. We ordered pizza for students who need lunch and classes are going on as usual,” the note said. “Please know that we are taking this situation extremely seriously and have requested additional security support for our school.” “Our thoughts are with the family of our school community member,” the note said. Chicago police officers investigate the scene where a teenager was shot and killed near Kenwood Academy High School on September 9, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Another memo to parents from the Chicago Public Schools Office of Athletic Administration said all after-school activities, athletic and non-athletic, were canceled Friday. A football game between Kenwood and Taft High School scheduled for Friday night in Taft has been postponed to Saturday at 4 p.m. at Taft, the email said. The email also included a statement from David Rosengard, Executive Director of Athletic Administration for Chicago Public Schools. “We are saddened to learn of the tragic situation that occurred near Kenwood Middle School this afternoon,” Rosengard said in the email. “We are in constant communication with the Kenwood Administration, CPS Office of School Safety and Security and the Chicago Police Department to ensure the safety of our community members in the area.” “Our thoughts are with the Kenwood and Hyde Park community at this time.” The president of the Chicago Union of Teachers, Stacey Davis Gates, also commented on the attack. “Mothers do not send our children to school to be murdered,” Gates said in a statement. “Mayor Lightfoot and every decision maker in this city owes us more. We demand more. Our children deserve more — more social emotional support, more love and more responsibility from adults.” “The mayor has spent the last two years declaring our school communities safe, yet here we are again ready to bury another child and offer condolences to another family and another school community. This is at least the fourth shooting near one of our schools since classes started and it’s only the third week of the year,” Gates said in the statement. “And this strategy of offering condolences and non-transparent support is failing — and killing — our children. It hurts and our whole city deserves better.” Near the scene of the attack, north of Hyde Park Avenue, police vehicles blocked traffic from 50th Place and the East End. From 3 p.m. the school campus seemed quiet, with only a few people going out and leaving the school by car. At 3:35 p.m., four Chicago Police SUVs, one with its blue lights flashing, were parked in front of the school’s main entrance. At least one officer was standing outside an SUV. Four additional officers were standing outside the school on the corner of Hyde Park Avenue and Blackstone Avenue next to two parked unmarked police cars. A few minutes later, a woman and a group of apparent students hurried away from the school. A statement released Friday afternoon by Chicago Public Schools offered its condolences. “All of us at Chicago Public Schools are saddened to learn of the loss of yet another young life and extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends and community members affected by this tragedy.” Kristen Lowery, 41, was home early Friday afternoon when she heard gunshots nearby, she told a Tribune reporter about 4:30 p.m. outside the school. Concerned after hearing a teenager had been fatally shot, she decided to meet her 17-year-old son, a student at Kenwood. Lowery said she never sees her son at school because they live in apartments about a block east of campus. As Lowery waited outside the gate, large crowds of students filed out of the school and dispersed into smaller groups across the street. Then her phone rang.
Afternoon briefing
Daily Top stories from Chicago Tribune editors, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. “Where are you?” Lowery said the worry in her voice calmed when she heard her son’s voice and learned he was outside their home, which is just south of where the attack happened. “As a mother of a black boy I’m scared,” she said, adding that while shootings don’t happen often in their neighborhood, when they do only heightens her fears. Lowery’s had many difficult conversations with her son, who didn’t know the boy was killed, and her two older daughters about race and violence, among other things. “It’s hard for parents to have, but to think about the kids,” she said. “It’s hard for them to hear and process such adult topics. … They should focus on being kids.” “We need love in this town … people are hurting.” [email protected] [email protected]
