After three deadly shootings near Chicago schools, what will be done to protect communities?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three shootings have taken the lives of Chicago Public Schools students over the past couple of weeks – all of them steps from the schools they each attended.
The most recent shooting happened within a couple of blocks of Nicholas Senn High School in Edgewater – where 16-year-old Daveon Gibson was killed and two other students were shot.
Police said all three shootings remained under investigation Thursday, and they do not believe any of the shootings are connected. But with all the deadly shootings involving teenage students leaving school lately, what is being done long-term?
The shooting on Wednesday happened at 3:36 p.m. at 1253 W. Thorndale Ave., between Lakewood and Magnolia avenues. Senn High School, 5900 N. Glenwood Ave., is located about a block and a half to the west – and all the victims were students there.
Police say a car pulled up on the victims – and several people got out and shot them all.
Gibson was shot in the chest and died at Ascension St. Francis Hospital in Evanston. Another 16-year-old boy was shot in the jaw, chest, and left forearm and was taken to Ascension St. Francis in "grave" condition, while the third victim, a 15-year-old boy, was shot in the right leg and was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in good condition, police said.
The incident was eerily similar to a fatal shooting in the Loop on Friday of last week. Robert Boston, 16, and Monterio Williams, 17, were shot and killed on the first block of North Wabash Avenue near Washington Street as they exited Innovations High School around 12:25 p.m. that day.
As in the Edgewater shooting, police said a car pulled up on the two teens as they exited the charter school at lunchtime - and people inside got out and started shooting.
The third incident involving a CPS student and a shooting happened on Monday, Jan. 22 - steps from CICS Loomis-Longwood, a K-12 charter school at 1309 W. 95th St. in the Longwood Manor neighborhood. Maurice Clay, 18, was killed in the shooting.
On Thursday, the Rev. Michael Pfleger led an antiviolence event – praying for the families of all the CPS students who were shot. Meanwhile, flowers marked the spot where the three Senn students were shot the day before -- along with a chalk message reading, "You matter to us," with "Senn" inside a heart.
All three shootings remained under investigation on Thursday. Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said Wednesday that police will be present at schools following the attacks.
"Across the districts, across the entire city, we will make sure that we have police presence at dismissal, and at time that students arriving at school," Snelling said Wednesday.
Mayor Brandon Johnson reiterated the point Thursday.
"Our Police Department is going to continue to coordinate with our school community before and after - and there are a variety of interventions that will continue to be in place," the mayor said.
We asked police and the Mayor's office what the new security plan a police presence at schools will look like - and for how long it will go on. Neither would go into detail, or address specific questions about those plans.
The Chicago Public Schools did release this statement:
"Chicago Public Schools (CPS) aims to provide all staff and students with a safe, welcoming and inclusive school environment which includes the neighborhood surrounding their school and that is why we have invested in relationships, resources, and staff to support students as they walk to and from school through our strong ongoing City partnerships, including with the Chicago Police Department.
"Our commitment does not stop at physical safety. We are committed to holistically supporting our amazing students with comprehensive programming, services and dedicated staff members who go above and beyond each day. We provide support services, including professional counseling services, to staff and students in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic incident or tragic loss of life and continue for however long such support is needed. We work with our charter school partners and offer our services and support as well. We continue to develop new ways of reaching out to students, such as our innovative 'Choose to Change' and 'Back to our Future' programming which helps re-engage students and former students who are facing multiple challenges.
"This work is ongoing and ever evolving and we, as a system, are deeply committed to doing all we can to protect and care for students. We mourn for the loss of young lives and we offer our sincere condolences to those who have lost their loved ones to violence and remain committed to finding solutions."
Community leaders announce plan against violence in Chicago
The shooting in Edgewater was also on the minds of many as community leaders on Thursday announced a new effort to fight violence in Chicago.
"Our children and our families need and deserve to live safely, and this is what it would take," said Jorge Matos of Chicago CRED.
Organizers on Thursday revealed a new program to expand community violence intervention in Chicago – also to stop shootings like one that left a man dead last month on the Eisenhower Expressway.
Chicago CRED's plan is to expand their interventions in three Chicago neighborhoods this year – and add neighborhoods each year as more money becomes available.
The five-year goal is to help at least half of the 20,000 or so Chicagoans who are the highest risk of shooting or being shot.
