Oct 2, 2008 6:40 pm US/Central
Boy Fatally Shot In Southeast Side Grocery Store
Police Say Male Gang Member Also Wounded In Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Sameere Conn, 13, loved sports and doted on his younger brother, his family said.
A 13-year-old boy is dead after being shot in a Southeast Side grocery Wednesday night near Trumbull Park, authorities said. A man was also wounded in the shooting.
The eighth-grader, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Sameere Conn, was pronounced dead at 3:40 a.m. at Comer Children's Hospital. An autopsy will be conducted Friday.
Elaine Mayo spoke to CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot through sobs about the gang-related shooting that left her grandson dead.
"Somebody's going to tell on you," Mayo said. "Somebody's going to get you."
Police say Conn had no gang affiliations and was in the store when someone began shooting into the front glass window.
"We was all in the store," B.J. Neal, a friend of Conn's, said. "We heard 'boom, boom, boom' and we all ran.
Conn and a 27-year-old man were shot. The man survived; police say he is a gang member.
"He's a good boy, and it's senseless. It's terrible. We gotta stop this," a family friend of Conn's, Rebecca Price, said.
A steady flow of well-wishers went to Conn's home Thursday to console his loved ones.
The eighth-grader from Bright Elementary always doted on his younger brother. Conn loved baseball, basketball and football.
He had just finished playing a baseball game at Trumbull Park before he was shot.
"His coach at the park said he might be another Walter Payton," Mayo said.
Those who call the Trumbull Park area home say violence happens there all the time.
"Over the years you can't imagine how many children have been shot, chased down, beat up, jumped on… it's ridiculous," said family friend Rebecca Price. It's because the Hispanics and the African-Americans are here fighting like it ain't no tomorrow."
Police confirm there is a gang turf war going on in the area, and it's been going on for years. They say officers are deployed to the area constantly, but a spokesperson said the sad fact remains that there are too many guns on the street.
The incident remains under investigation and no one was in custody as of 6 p.m. Thursday, though police say they have identified a gunman.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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