Boy killed, three other teens wounded in shooting outside Juarez High School on West Side
Police outside Juarez High School Friday afternoon.
Michael Loria | Sun-Times
A boy was killed and three other teens were wounded in a shooting outside Benito Juarez High School on the West Side Friday afternoon.
The shooting happened around 2:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of South Laflin Street, just as classes were dismissed for the day, officials said.
One boy was dead on arrival at Stroger Hospital, another teen was brought there in “traumatic arrest,” and two other teens were in less serious condition at the hospital, officials said.
The shooters may have run west from the school after the attack.
Juarez students had been dismissed for the day at 2:30 p.m., walking out just as the shooting took place. A clerk who answered the school’s main office phone said Juarez went on lockdown after the shooting, but police gave an all-clear around 3:30 p.m.
A sophomore who only gave his last name, Nava, said he had been waiting in front of the school for his dad to pick him up when he heard shots down the block toward Ashland.
“It was crazy,” Nava said outside the crime scene Friday evening. “I heard two shots and then everyone started running and went inside.”
The 15-year-old went back inside and called his dad, who wasn’t far away.
His 46-year-old father said he he rushed through traffic to reach his son. “I was so nervous, I ran through the lights. I didn’t care,” he said.
A senior, who only gave his name as Marcel, was joining the crush of students on their way out the door when the shooting started.
“It was packed outside,” he said. “I only heard three shots but already there were two people on the ground.”
He went back inside with the rest of the students.
As students were allowed to leave, several of the school’s social studies teachers waited outside, checking in with them.
“I don’t know how they’re doing,” said one of the teachers, who’s been teaching at the school for 8 years. “It sucks. You hear about shootings around the city but then it comes to where you are.”
The school held a community event earlier Friday with food and performances from the school’s dance and drum teams, with free hams handed out ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez is a Juarez alum. He was the first in his family to graduate high school. Martinez and Mayor Lori Lightfoot hosted his introductory news conference at the school when he was hired in September 2021.
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