Mom: Teenage son was going downtown 'to just enjoy the city,' and then he got shot during melee
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Since the scenes of unrest and violence when young people took over downtown Chicago this past Saturday evening, many have been asking, "What about their parents?"
In the wake of the melee on Saturday night, we have seen the videos and talked with business owners, police sources, and local leaders – but not parents. But now, a mom has offered her perspective after she got the call no parent wants to get.
Her 16-year-old son was shot twice in the middle of it all.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza spoke exclusively with that mom on Tuesday. She had known her son was planning to go downtown Saturday night.
"Do I wish I told him no, like I usually tell him no? Yeah," she said. "But at the same time, how many times can I tell him no?"
The mom, who asked that we keep her anonymous, trusted her son. She said he has never given her a reason not to trust him.
So on a surprisingly nice April day, she allowed her son to go downtown with friends – rather than giving her usual response.
"Oh no, you can't go outside. You can't do this. You can't go to the mall. Don't walk down the street. Don't ride the scooters. Don't ride your bike. Like basically, don't enjoy the city that you live in. Go to school, come home, and yeah, that's all you can do," she said. "Like, what type of life is that?"
But then, a call came down to emergency dispatchers about someone being shot in the arm, and two others grazed, on Washington Street during the chaos.
"One of my biggest fears is getting a call like that – or, you know, even something worse," she said.
Her son was shot twice.
"He didn't know that he was actually hit until, like, an officer came and tapped him on the shoulder," the mother said.
She does not know how it happened or why – only that had she known it was going to be like this, she would not have allowed him to go.
Her son is recovering at home now, and she is trying to piece together what the city can do to prevent such situations. She is coming up empty.
"I know plenty of people with kids that were down there. They're in the programs. They're not kids that get in trouble. They go to school. They get straight A's," the mother said. "They were just going down there with some friends to go have some fun - and things just went left."
Her own son also goes to school, goes to after-school programs, and comes home.
"I just thought my son was going downtown with some of his friends to just, you know, enjoy the city - what the kids should be able to do," the mom said.
The mom also resents the idea that parents, as a group, are to blame for what happened Saturday night.
"Let's be real. I'm sure a lot of parents are asking their kids, 'Where are you going, or what are you going to be doing? And sometimes the kids – they say they're here, but then they go somewhere else," she said. "They're teenagers."
The mom's son was one of two who got shot downtown Saturday. Both survived.
She said her high school sophomore was trying to get out of downtown when it happened.
Her son does not have a criminal background. He just wanted to enjoy his city on an unseasonably warm April Saturday.
This mom is just happy her son is safe now, and does not want this to happen to another family.
