Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A shooting near a Southeast Side school left three teens dead Friday afternoon.

Chicago Police Officer John Mirabelli said Saturday afternoon that at least one "person of interest" is being questioned in the shooting.

Commander Eddie Welch said officials hoped at least two surveillance video cameras near the crime scene will lead to clues.

In the time it took for several gunshots to be fired in the boys' direction, possibly from an assault rifle, all were mortally wounded.

"I don't recall another time when we had three of our students killed in one incident," Andres Durbak, the Chicago schools' safety and security chief, said of the shooting Friday afternoon on the city's Southeast Side. "This is really extreme.''

Emergency personnel first responded to the shooting at 3 p.m. in an alley along 87th Street between Escanaba and Exchange avenues, according to Chicago Fire Department officials.

But witnesses said the three victims were shot in different locations: one just south of 87th on Exchange, a second at 87th and Escanaba and a third a few doors down from there.

Supt. Jody Weis, who was on the scene after the shootings, said the teens were attacked by more than one shooter.

"It appears they were attacked by several individuals, one of which had an assault rifle," Weis said at a news conference.

"They have a total diregard of someone's human life," said Mayor Daley Saturday. "Gangs versus gangs, children versus children, that's all this is about and to shoot in a car of a child? Think about that... they're evil people. these are evil people -- that's all this is."

One victim, Johnny Edwards, 13, of 8739 S. Essex Ave., was a seventh grader at Arnold Mireles Academy. He would have turned 14 on Monday. 

Johnny was remembered Friday evening by family and neighbors as a helpful boy who played in after-school sports programs and loved math and science.

"He was humble,'' his uncle John Johnson said. "He showed respect. He helped his brothers, his sisters and cousins with their homework. He liked to help people.''

The two other teens, identified as Raheem Washington, 15, of 9043 S. Escanaba Ave. and 17-year-old Kendrick Pitts, of 9602 S. Hoxie Ave., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, attended school at Bowen High School, school officials said.

Kendrick was adopted when he was 8 and was recently released from the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. He attended Bowen High School with the third victim, Raheem Washington.

On Saturday morning, South Chicago District police officers were canvassing the neighborhood, encouraging neighbors to organize against violence.

Weis said Friday it is highly likely that the triple homicide was gang-related. He said also that the killings were the result of the use of a highly deadly assault rifle, based on the recovery of shell casings at the scene.

Weis said police and civilians are increasingly at risk from assault weapons.

"It's a sign of the times," Weis said. "Our officers are facing these and it's not just our officers that become victims of assault rifles, it's everybody. You know, these weapons are really dangerous; they're really designed for one purpose, and that's to kill human beings."

The shootings occurred less than a block from Immaculate Conception School at 8739 South Exchange Ave.

A witness, who asked not to be named, said two young men ran past him headed east on 87th near Commercial and started shooting. One of the men had what appeared to be an automatic weapon.

The witness saw two of the teens being shot. The shooters then ran north through an alley. The witness said the area is plagued by gang violence.

The school, for students in grades K-8, began dismissing students at 2:45 p.m.

A secretary from the school said they heard shots fired and called police. School officials kept the students who were still on school grounds inside the building and followed procedure.

Students who were still at the school at the time of the shooting were kept inside the building until the situation was deemed safe.

Police said there were pod cameras in place almost immediately above the site of the shootings and they are hopeful they will be helpful in furthering their investigation.

The deaths added to a school year that was already on track to be one of the most violent on record in Chicago. By mid-January, almost twice as many CPS students had been shot to death as the same period last year.

The Clergy Committed to Community along with Ceasefire will host prayer vigil on Sunday at 3pm. It will take place at 87th and Exchange.

CBS 2's Derrick Blakley and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Editor's Picks

• Gay Celebrities
• Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
• Celebs Who Lean To The Right
• Real Or Fake?