A University of Chicago student who died three days after a stray bullet struck him while on a CTA train is being remembered by friends and classmates as a gentle and caring person.
Max Lewis, 20, was shot in the neck while riding a CTA Green Line train in Washington Park on the South Side Thursday. He was initially transported in critical condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
A bullet apparently crashed through the window of the train, striking Lewis. He was not the intended target, law enforcement said.
Lewis, who was in his third year at the University of Chicago, was on his way home from a summer internship in the downtown area when the shooting occurred. The 20-year-old passed away on the Fourth of July, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
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"He did nothing wrong," said Zach Cogin, Lewis' best friend and roommate. "He wasn't walking into a bad area, he wasn't doing something he shouldn't have done. He was working an internship and took public transportation that thousands of millions of people take in the city."
Lewis was pursuing a double major in economics and computer science and involved with the student community on the university's campus.
Cogin said gun violence is disastrous in Chicago, but also throughout the country.
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"Max was the victim of more than gun violence, and things need to change," he said. "We need to be better."
No arrests had been made in connection with the 20-year-old's death as of Monday night.
The University of Chicago released the following statement in response to Lewis' death:
"The University of Chicago community is devastated by the loss of Max Solomon Lewis, an undergraduate student who has passed away from injuries related to being shot while sitting in an off-campus Chicago Transit Authority elevated train on Thursday, July 1. Our deepest sympathies are with Max’s family, friends, and all who knew him. He was a talented student and beloved individual who will be greatly missed.”
