CHICAGO — A shooting outside a Marquette Park high school left three teens wounded and shook nearby families. It's the second shooting near a high school within 24 hours in Chicago.
There is violence in the area "all the time," said Bianca Walker, a mom of two kids who attend McKay Elementary across the street from the shooting. Her children, Khamarri and Kortez, are inside "every day" unless they're leaving the neighborhood because it's not safe to be outside, Walker said.
The incident occurred in the 7000 block of South Washtenaw Avenue at 12:50 p.m., said Officer Janel Sedevic, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.
A 17-year-old boy was shot in his torso and is in serious to critical condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. A 17-year-old girl was grazed in the ankle and a 15-year-old boy was grazed somewhere in his body. Both are in good condition at Christ, police said.
All three were outside at the time of the shooting, but police could not comment if the three were students at Camelot Excel Southwest High School, 7014 S. Washtenaw Ave.
During Friday's shooting, Walker's kids Khamarri and Kortez were in class at McKay. Walker, who didn't learn of the shooting until she arrived to pick up her sons after school finished, said she no longer wants to live with the violence. She plans to leave Chicago as soon as possible.
"I can't wait to relocate," Walker said as she stood outside her sons' school. Police cars were parked nearby and officers spoke on the street. "The violence is day by day getting more and more worse. I want my children to grow up. I want to give them a chance at life.
"And it's sad that I feel like if I want to give them a chance at life I have to relocate because my kids can't even go out and play," Walker said.
Sharonda Mays, who lives down the block from the shooting, said she walks her 19-year-old daughter, Tashawna Williams, to the bus and back — she's too afraid to let her kids be outside by themselves. The only time they're outside is when they visit Mays' mom in East Chicago.
"They have to stay inside every day, and sometimes you're not safe on the inside," Mays said. "Sometimes we have to go out [to East Chicago] to let them enjoy themselves."
The only thing keeping Mays in Marquette Park is a desire to keep her four children in the schools they currently attend. She has two kids at McKay and a 14-year-old son in high school. He was riding the bus home when he saw a victim of Friday's shooting. He told his mom he'd seen a body and police.
"I just want to leave Chicago. This is not safe," Mays said. "It's not safe at all."
A man passing by in his car slowed and asked what had happened. He used to live in the area, he said.
"I was gonna move back, but I ain't no more," he said.
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