2 teens hurt, 1 critically, in shooting after high school football game in Woodlawn
CHICAGO (CBS) – A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl are hospitalized following a shooting after a high school football game in the Woodlawn neighborhood Friday night.
Chicago police littered the intersection of 64th and Blackstone as the teens were shot just after 10 p.m. at Mount Carmel High School.
As reported by CBS 2's Darius Johnson, both were taken to Comer Children's Hospital where the boy was listed in critical condition after being shot in the abdomen, and the girl was in good condition after being shot in the foot.
A witness at the scene, who did not want to be identified, said she was leaving the Mount Carmel versus Morgan Park football game when the shots rang out.
"As we were proceeding out everyone turned around. We heard what were gunshots. Everyone turned around ran back through the football field. Everyone took off running," she said.
It was just 35 minutes after the game ended and crowds were clearing when bullets started flying at a nearby parking lot.
Video of the moments right after the shooting shows one of the victims being tended. A couple of security guards and some students attempted to help the 15-year-old boy.
Witnesses say it appears the shooting was unrelated to the football game, but where the bullets came from is still a mystery.
"We heard live rounds And it was about 1200 to 1500 students at this football game," said Michael Smith, a security guard who was working at the game.
Smith recalled the chaos and the trauma some of the families who came to watch the game experienced.
"A whole bunch of students, they just start running back toward Championship Row right over here back toward the field, and it was from gunfire," he said. "Any time that there's shootings, any time there's a lot of violent crime, it's trauma. So it's trying to get people back to center because they're thrown off base with the trauma from gun violence and all of this other stuff."
Westbound CTA buses along 63rd Street were rerouted for three hours as police continued their investigation.
With no suspects in custody, investigators are now combing through surveillance footage from school property and the surrounding area for any leads.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call police.
Mount Carmel released the following statement on the incident:
Mount Carmel is committed to the City of Chicago, and after last night's tragic event after our football game with Morgan Park High School it is more clear than ever that the faith- and values-based experience that we offer young men is vital to our great city. Today we pray for the full recovery of the two young visitors (not Mount Carmel students) to our campus who were injured last night, and tomorrow we continue our efforts to make Chicago a better place to live and grow up as a young man.
Our sadness and anger cannot and will not overcome the hope we feel as we work in our mission to educate young men in mind, body and spirit. It is with hope that we eagerly take on the task of examining our robust safety protocols in order to protect the young people we serve and all parents, alumni and guests of our Mount Carmel community whenever it gathers together.
We will not solve Chicago's safety crisis on our own, but Mount Carmel will be a part of the solution.
