CHICAGO — A boy who appeared in an anti-violence video and was later shot himself says he will continue to speak out against gun crimes in Chicago.
"I want kids to feel free to walk around without them worrying about gunshots and people getting killed, walk around to go to parties, parks freely, without them worrying about ‘oh, we can't go to that park because there's a lot of gangbangers, they are going to shoot’,” the boy, Zarriel Trotter told FOX32 News.
Zarriel Trotter, a seventh grader at Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School, was shot while walking with friends in the 5500 block of West Jackson Boulevard last month.
Last year, Zarriel appeared in a YouTube video called "Our Black Boys" produced by a group called Black is Human. The public service announcement begins: "The leading cause of death for black boys and teens: Homicide." In the video, Zarriel says, "I don't want to live in a community where...people keep on getting shot, people keep on getting killed."
Zarriel tells the station he was alsking home from a park when walked into the middle of an argument and was shot in the lower back. "I wasn't expecting it to happen to me," he said.
The shooting made international news.
The boy told FOX32 he wants to open a place where kids can go to be safe 24 hours a day.
Police have not announced any arrests in the incident.
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