CHICAGO — A 19-year-old son of a Chicago police officer was killed in an Ashburn attack early Sunday, according to police.
The 19-year-old was with a 20-year-old man sitting in front of a house in the 2900 block of West 82nd Street at 12:04 a.m. Sunday when a man walked up and fired shots, police said.
The 19-year-old was struck in the chest and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
He has been identified as Arshell Dennis III, the son of Arshell "Chico" Dennis, according to police and media reports. His father is a veteran of the Chicago Police Department and served as a patrol officer with Supt. Eddie Johnson, the department said in a press release Sunday.
Dennis was a student at St. John's University in New York City, according to the Chicago Tribune. He was a journalism major who had come back to Chicago to visit with his mother before returning to school, the paper reported.
In a YouTube video essay made with his roommate, Dennis said he went to St. John's because of its media program and its proximity to the media hub that is New York City. He mentions his love of poetry and said he finished second overall in the city's Louder Than A Bomb poetry competition.
Dennis also said he is lucky to be a black man from the South Side going away to college.
"I do appreciate the fact that I am where I am," Dennis says in the video. "Where I'm from, a lot of people don't make it."
Johnson is slated to meet with the family this afternoon, he said in a statement.
"... Arshell was a good kid, making his parents proud and studying for a promising future as a journalist," Johnson said. "As always, the men and women of the CPD will stop at nothing to find who was responsible and bring a sense of closure and justice to Officer Dennis and all families affected by violence."
The 20-year-old also wounded in the attack was shot in his arm and the side of his chest and was also taken to Christ in serious condition, police said.
No arrests have been made.
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