EDGEWATER — Neighbors, students and local leaders came together to offer support at a vigil Thursday night near where three Senn High School students were shot, one fatally, a day earlier.
Daveon Gibson, 16, of Humboldt Park, and two other Senn students were shot Wednesday afternoon a few blocks east of Senn, shortly after school had let out. About 3:30 p.m., the three teens were walking down the street in the 1200 block of West Thorndale Avenue when a car pulled up and several people got out and fired shots, police said.
Gibson died from gunshot wounds in his chest at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, police said. The two other boys remain in the hospital, police said.
The shooting is under investigation, and no one is in custody. Anyone with information about the shooting can call Area 3 detectives at 312-744-8263 and reference case number JH 135165, said Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th).
Gibson was kind to everyone, said Jones Sweetman, 16, a sophomore who had gym class with him at Senn.
“He was just the nicest kid,” Sweetman said. “No matter what you said to him, he was kind, always. He was one of those people who was a bit quiet, but he was someone you could always talk to.”
When the shooting happened, Sweetman was waiting for the “L” with his brother at the Thorndale Red Line station just a few blocks away, he said.
“If [my two oldest sons] left school just five minutes later, they would have been right there,” said Sweetman’s dad, Matt Sweetman, a local pastor who organized the vigil outside of Trinity Church Chicago, 1244 W. Thorndale Ave. “It’s a pretty scary thought, and we’re obviously affected by it in a small way.”
Victim support counselors were available Thursday for Senn students, and there was an increased police presence in the area, police Supt. Larry Snelling said. School security guards, teachers and police vehicles monitored students as they arrived at and left school.
“Our son was texting with people who saw things, and people aren’t sure about sharing those things, but I think there’s a real obligation to come forward if anybody knows anything, no matter what detail it is or what risk that puts you at,” Matt Sweetman said. “For this to stop, people have to speak up.”
At the vigil, about 50 neighbors wrote messages on a poster for Gibson’s family, sang songs by candlelight and spoke about how the community can better support Senn students.
Neighbor Peg Dublin suggested residents make a collective effort to watch out for students as they’re heading to and from school, particularly along Thorndale Avenue, since many kids walk that way after getting off the train.
Dublin said her daughter-in-law, who lives in the neighborhood, “came out of her home yesterday and as this child was dying, she held [Gibson] in her arms until he died.”
“She will never be the same again, and his family will never be the same again,” Dublin said. “I feel that we need to create a safe passage for students to show them that we care.”
“These are kids. This shouldn’t be happening,” said Ann Casey, a parent who lives a few blocks from Senn. “All I can think about is his family. Kids deserve way better than this. It’s not the neighborhood — you couldn’t find a better place to live — but this happens everywhere.”
Manaa-Hoppenworth stood with neighbors at the vigil and wrote a message on the poster for the victims’ families.
The alderwoman said she talked with students as they left school Thursday afternoon to spread the word about a public safety meeting she plans to host with the 20th District Council. The details of the meeting have yet to be announced.
“As the mom of a teen, my heart breaks for the families of this tragedy,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said in a statement. “Our young people deserve more. They deserve a city where they can safely go to and from school without the threat of gun violence.”
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) said Thursday his office is also working with police as they investigate the shooting.
Vasquez said the government has a responsibility to address gun violence “in the immediate and at their root cause.”
“As someone who lost a brother to gun violence, I understand the trauma that is caused by such incidents too well and pray for the families of the youth,” Vasquez said in a statement. “As a father of two children in this city, I, like every other parent, want them to grow up in a city where they can feel safe walking to and from school. Their future is central to my commitment to public safety for all.”
There have been two other shootings targeting Chicago Public School students in the past two weeks.
Robert Boston, 16, and Monterio Williams, 17, were among a group of six students leaving Innovations High School, 17 N. State St., Friday when people in a dark-colored sedan and an SUV pulled up and shot them, police said. Both died after being taken to the hospital.
There’s no evidence the shooting near Senn is related to the shooting that happened near Innovations, Snelling said during a news conference Wednesday night.
Also last week, Maurice Clay, 18, was killed and his older brother was wounded outside CICS Loomis-Longwood, 1309 W. 95th St., the Sun-Times reported.
“The individuals who are responsible for this kind of violence, it has to end,” Johnson said Wednesday night. “The harm, chaos and the trauma that’s being caused by individuals who do not value life, the full force of government will be used to bring those individuals to justice.
“Whatever conflict, whatever pain that you are expressing, this is not the way to do it. The loss of life is tearing at the fabric of this city.”
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