1 teen killed, 2 wounded in Evanston beach shooting; lockdown lifted at Northwestern University
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- A shooting at the entrance to a beach in Evanston left one teen dead and two wounded Wednesday night, and the Evanston campus of Northwestern University was placed on lockdown for over an hour with the suspects at large.
The shooting happened in Centennial Park in front of the Clark Street Beach, in the 1800 block of Sheridan Road in Evanston.
Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew said two 15-year-old boys were wounded and an 18-year-old, later identified as Jacquis Irby of Evanston, was killed in the shooting. One of the 15-year-olds was in critical condition.
"We heard like about 10 gunshots, and we were sitting at the bench, and we thought it was fireworks – so we're like just relaxing. And people are running, and they're like, 'Oh, run, it's gunshots!' So we're like, 'Okay, let's get out of here,'" said witness Beatrix Kovacs. "And then we are walking this way, and people start screaming: 'There's a body! There's a body!' to the police, and then they started giving him CPR, but I don't know. They took him away."
"I heard some shots and people running, and police converged over here," said witness Ben Maisel.
Police cordoned off every entrance to the beach, and remained at the scene as of 10 p.m.. Several markers were placed down for shell casings.
Northwestern said on Twitter that the suspects then fled north toward campus, the university said. The suspects were spotted going north on Sheridan Road in a sedan, Northwestern said.
At 8:45 p.m., everyone at Northwestern was asked to shelter in place until further notice. An alert announcing the lockdown went out around 8:45 p.m.
Police said by late in the 9 p.m. hour, the suspects were no longer in the immediate area and there did not appear to be a continued threat. The lockdown at Northwestern was lifted just before 10 p.m.
The emergency near the Evanston Campus has been lifted and is all clear. There is no danger to life safety at this time and no longer a need to shelter in place. Police are confident the suspects are no longer in the area. We thank you again for your cooperation.
— Northwestern (@NorthwesternU) April 13, 2023
"Even though we don't have any suspects in custody, nothing in the investigation indicates that this was a random act and that there is a continued threat to the public," Glew said, "but we always advise caution after an incident like this."
Evanston police said the incident did not involve the Northwestern community and the victims were not Northwestern students.
Late Wednesday, there was no known motive for the shooting.