BRIDGEPORT — It happened on my lunchtime march down Morgan Street to satisfy an intense craving for a greasy burger.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang
Gunshots. From across the street.
Five fast steps and I dove into the tall weeds of a vacant lot on the east side of Morgan.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang
More shots.
The tree. I had to get behind the tree.
Are they done shooting?
Bang-Bang-Bang
On hands and knees, I dragged myself through the grass, pushed myself up and hopped a chain-link fence to find safety behind a brick apartment building.
Ed Komenda recounts his harrowing ordeal when he heard shots ring out.
My heart raced.
Where’s the shooter?
The street was silent.
I peeked around the corner.
Neighbors had started to come outside to look, too.
Was somebody shot?
I reached for my phone. It wasn’t there.
Did someone call the cops?
I could feel hot concrete under my feet. My sandals were gone, too.
Barefoot, I hopped back over the fence into the weeds. I found my phone and slipped my sandals on.
Instincts kicked in, and I made a call. My editor picked up.
I tried to tell him what happened, but could barely spit it out.
Security guards who heard the shots at Armour Elementary, less than a block away, came outside.
The cops arrived next. They found 15 bullet casings in the 1000 block of West 32nd Place, about 60 yards from where I heard the shots on Morgan.
There were too many people out to be terrified despite the terror of those 45 seconds. So I did what so many Chicagoans do after the shooting stops: I went back to work.
For me, that means asking questions.
By the time school let out, I learned there had been an argument. A gangbanger stuck a gun out the window of a car and shot at a rival but missed, hitting a parked car.
I talked to a neighbor sitting on his stoop. He took a long drag on his menthol cigarette and exhaled hard.
"It's summertime," he said. "This ain't nothing new."
He opened his pack of cigarettes and handed me one.
I don't smoke, but I lit up anyway.
It was the worst lunch ever.
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