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Student Shot in the Leg Near Roosevelt High School

By  Patty Wetli and Kyla Gardner | September 25, 2013 3:59pm | Updated on September 25, 2013 5:10pm

 A male student was shot in the leg near Roosevelt High School.
Shooting at Roosevelt High School
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ALBANY PARK — Charges are pending in connection with the shooting of a student outside Roosevelt High School in the city's Albany Park neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

The 15-year-old student was shot in his leg about 2:25 p.m. in the 4700 block of North Kimball Avenue, said Officer Daniel O'Brien, police spokesman.

A weapon was recovered, a person was in custody and charges were pending in the shooting, O'Brien said Wednesday night.

Students outside the school identified the victim as a Roosevelt football player and said a man put a gun to his head at a bus stop. Someone else grabbed the gunman's arm and a shot was fired.

The shooting took place near Roosevelt High School, located at 3436 W. Wilson Ave.

The office of Ald. Deb Mell (33rd) identified the victim as a student at Roosevelt.

"Thank you to the CPD for apprehending a shooter outside Roosevelt High School in Albany Park this afternoon," Mell's office said in a statement. "One student was shot in the leg; he's in good condition."

The victim was taken to St. Francis Hospital in good condition, O'Brien said.

A student who said he was a friend of the victim said the shooting occurred at a bus stop at Leland and Kimball near the school. The friend said someone approached the victim, put a gun to the victim's head but another student grabbed the shooter's arm.

As the shooter's arm was pulled down, the gun went off and the victim was hit in the leg, the friend said.

Police were seeking any video footage from cameras at a nearby strip mall, said Enrique Aguilar, an employee at a salon Cutz N Nailz, which is located in the shopping plaza.

The mall has two cameras but point toward the parking lot and not in the direction of the bus stop, said Aguilar.

John Garcia, who lives near the high school, said he has followed media reports of the city's gun violence.

"Every time I see it on the news, it's the South Side. You turn a blind eye, even though you shouldn't because we're all one city. It's scary now," Garcia said.

The neighborhood has what Garcia called "punk gangbangers" — young teens who spray graffiti but are "not hardcore."

"When it hits so close to home, you worry," Garcia said.

In a statement Wednesday night, Chicago Public Schools addressed the shooting.

"The safety of our children is a top priority, and although this incident took place outside of school property, CPS takes any incident of this kind involving a student very seriously," the statement said.