Chicago police work the scene where two people were shot in the 5500 block of North Broadway Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood, Thursday, April 4, 2024.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
A day after two more Senn High School students were shot near the school in Edgewater, parents are looking for action from local officials.
It marks the second time this year that Senn students have been shot.
The students, a 16-year-old boy and 18-year-old man, were walking on the sidewalk in the 1100 block of West Catalpa Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday when a dark-colored car pulled up and someone inside fired shots, police said.
Both were shot in their arms and legs, and were taken in good condition to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, police said. The shooter fled the area and have not been arrested.
“I don’t want [my kid] thinking of school as this volatile, potentially violent environment [because] it weighs on my mind heavily,” one Senn parent, who didn’t want to be named out of fear for his child’s safety, told the Sun-Times. “In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to worry about this.”
The shooting occurred about a mile south of Senn High School, near where one student was fatally shot and two others injured around afternoon dismissal Jan. 31. It took place less than a week after two students were killed outside Innovations High School in the Loop.
In a letter to parents, Senn High School Principal Holly Dacres reached out about the attack.
“I know this news is incredibly concerning and difficult, especially because our community is still processing the shooting that impacted us earlier this year,” Dacres wrote, while announcing CPS’ Crisis Management Unit would be at the school to provide counseling for students. “We are here for you and your family.”
The Senn parent, an Andersonville resident of 10 years who recently moved to Rogers Park, said his child has “compartmentalized” the January shooting but that he remains fearful.
The parent moved his family to the area so his child could attend Peirce Elementary School, but received a “reality check” when one of his child’s kindergarten classmates found a revolver in a snowbank.
“To some extent you accept the reality that there’s violence out there in the world. But to have multiple shootings and the school year isn’t over,” the parent said. “It’s just really hard to get your head around.”
He said the blame hasn’t fallen on the school’s educators. However, at local safety meetings, he said local residents and parents of students have become frustrated with “empty platitudes” from elected officials who he said have been walking on eggshells not to get painted as having certain beliefs on police or social services.
Despite this, he said the community is likely the way around the “red tape.”
In the wake of January’s shooting, he said some parents started volunteering to walk students home from school and police had thanked the community for their cooperation in the investigation.
“Police and elected officials said they need the community’s support as much as we need theirs, and I think that’s a fair assessment of what we’re facing,” the parent said. “It takes a village to bring these kids up and make sure these things don’t happen.”
Angel Rubi Navarijo, Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth’s (48th) director of public safety and neighborhood services, agreed.
Manaa-Hoppenworth’s office announced the placement of a squad car outside the Thorndale Red Line station as well as increased patrols in “high crime” areas, though Rubi Navarijo said more action was forthcoming.
He also said the ward office was working with violence interrupters — though, he added, there isn’t enough funding for them — and to work on more jobs fairs and mentorship programs to help keep kids busy.
“We don’t want to step on anyone’s toes in terms of public safety,” Rubi Navarijo said. “In the immediate, we’re working with violence interrupters and we would love to see more support for youth… The police cannot solve this all by themselves.”
While the ward didn’t have a meeting planned after the shooting yet, as they were waiting to hear what the community wanted, Rubi Navarijo encouraged people to go to the office’s bi-weekly ward nights and to show up at police district council meetings to ensure their voices are heard.
“We’re frustrated too,” Rubi Navarijo said. “We’re all gonna get through this together. We may have different approaches, but we all want safe neighborhoods.”