Teen killed, 2 others wounded in Chicago shootings

This story was presented to me as a Tribune alert this morning. There is a problem out there and it's very unfortunate. Why are these kids getting shot?

A 17-year-old boy died early Tuesday morning after being shot in the stomach near his home on Chicago's Far South Side, officials said.

That victim, Shannon Brown, was one of three teens reported shot Monday night in the city.

About 10:35 p.m., his assailant emerged from a gangway and shot the teen near South Wentworth Avenue and West 103rd Street before fleeing, Chicago Police Officer David Banks said. It's unclear if he was the intended target.

Brown, 17, of the 100 block of West 103rd Place, was pronounced dead at 2:18 a.m. in Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to a Cook County medical examiner's office spokesman.

No one was in custody, and further details were unavailable.

Separately, two other teens were shot and wounded, one of them seriously, Monday night in Chicago's Marquette Park neighborhood, police said. A 16-year-old boy was in custody for the shooting early Tuesday morning, but no charges have been filed.

The shooting occurred about 7:40 p.m. in the 3200 block of West 65th Place, said Police Officer JoAnn Taylor.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the back, and was reported in serious condition at Christ in Oak Lawn, police said.

An 18-year-old man was shot in the hand and taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was said to be in good condition.

The victims were standing on the street on West 65th Place when the shooter approached and opened fire, police said. The shooter fled on foot but was soon apprehended near West 64th Street and South Kedzie Avenue after responding officers obtained his description.

A .38-caliber revolver, which was believed to have been used in the shooting, was found underneath a vehicle, police said.

The victims and the shooter had gang affiliations, police said, adding that the victims and their alleged assailant were believed to be affiliated with two different street gangs.

The three shootings are one of several in recent weeks in Chicago, prompting calls for stricter gun control laws in Illinois.

Hundreds of Chicago Public School students were expected to converge on the James R. Thompson Center Tuesday morning, urging state legislators to enact such laws in light of the shootings, including that of a Chicago Public School student who was killed in the parking lot of the Simeon Career Academy on Saturday.

The protest comes in the wake of that shooting, which claimed the life of Chavez Clarke, 18. On Monday, two Dunbar Vocational Career Academy students who also had been taking Saturday classes at Simeon—Samuel Hill, 17, and Ronald Little, 19—were charged with Clarke's killing.

Let me just note that this article says that it's not know if Brown has attended CPS otherwise if it was he'd probably be in the count and at this point I'm not sure where it is.

I could also say that at this point I don't know if it's such a great idea to use naive young people to advance stricter gun laws. It almost seems unfair, not that I don't understand some of these young people and why they're demonstrating. They're tired of the violence that is taking away their friends. I'm tired of it myself, but I hope most understands that stricter gun laws or perhaps stricter gun control isn't the answer. It certainly wasn't an answer since gun control was enacted in Chicago a few years back.

Still something can be done about the deaths of these young people. I hope we can prevent as many as can be prevented. No more people getting killed over hats or silly feuds, please!