Oct 6, 2008 9:43 pm US/Central
Surveillance Video Released In CTA Bus Shooting
Family Says Kiyanna Salter, 17, Was Not The Intended Target
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Police have released a CTA bus surveillance video and photos of the man suspected in the shooting death on a South Side bus of an 17-year-old girl Sunday.
On Monday morning, family members said they were certain that Kiyanna Salter was not the intended target.
The shooting happened as the No. 71 bus stopped to let passengers off at about 10 p.m. Sunday
Calumet Area police detectives are looking for a man who stepped off the bus at the busy three-way intersection of 71st Street, Cottage Grove Avenue and South Chicago Avenue, and then turned and fired a shot into the bus, killing Salter.
A family member who was on the bus with the victim told the Chicago Tribune the shooting happened after one man accidentally brushed the hand of another man on the bus. That brief contact led to an argument followed by the shooting that left Salter dead.
CTA surveillance video is blurry but police believe his clothes may be enough to give the suspect away. His jacket is visible, splattered with the number nine in several colors.
"Nobody deserves to bury their child for a senseless crime because you're angry at somebody," said Salter' aunt Tara Bruce. "It's not that much anger in the world, it's not."
There were cries of sorrow and anguish at vigil held for Salter Monday night. But there were also prayers for the suspect and calls for peace.
"Whoever has did the shooting on last night, yesterday dear God, we ask that you convict his heart right now in a mighty way that he could turn himself over right now in a mighty way dear God," said a man at the vigil
"This is crazy. So what is it going to take for our community to wake up and save our kids?" a vigil attendee asked.
"It's a sad case to see what's really going on in Chicago," said family friend Maria Buckley. "We need to put these guns down and get right with God."
Salter' friends and family are struggling to cope with her senseless murder. Salter' cousin Jasmine Wilcox was on the bus with her. She says they had been grocery shopping for a sick relative.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Wilcox says while riding the bus a man in his 20s started talking to them. A short time later, a younger man walked by to get off the bus and accidentally brushed the hand of the man they were talking to. That contact led to an argument during which at least one of the men showed a gun.
After the younger man got off the bus, he turned and fired a single shot. Wilcox says she and other passengers ducked, and then she notice her cousin wasn't moving.
Salter was pronounced dead a short time later at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
"We just asking everybody to stay prayful for the family, and ask God to give them strength," Buckley said.
Salter was a senior at Percy L. Julian High School, at 10330 S. Elizabeth St., and family and friends say she loved school.
"She was a good girl, and she was killed by gun violence," Buckley said, "and she wanted to be a doctor. She went to school at Julian. It's a sad case to see what's really going on in Chicago."
Salter loved dancing and liked to play basketball, according to relatives.
Julian was the same school where Blair Holt, 16, was an honor student when he, too, was shot and killed on a CTA bus. Holt was killed and four others injured when Michael Pace allegedly opened fired aboard the bus in May 2007. Police said Holt was protecting another student when he was killed.
Ron Holt, Blair Holt's father, said the news of the shooting chilled him. "I heard it and I was just numb. It was a reminder of what happened to Blair.
"It's just tragic to think about," Holt said.
Police said Salter was not the intended target and they are currently reviewing the bus' surveillance camera for usable video. Police are also canvassing the area for witnesses.
Salter' friends say it is just too much.
"People that's killing people, they not even shooting at people they trying to kill. They always shooting at innocent," Latisha Johnson said.
CBS 2's Joanie Lum. Pamela Jones and Mai Martinez and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Video: CBS 2's Picks To Click
