A student at a Southwest Side high school was critically injured in a shooting outside the school Tuesday afternoon.
The student, a freshman at Gurdon S. Hubbard High School, at 6200 S. Hamlin Ave., was shot near 63rd and Springfield and ran toward the school, where he fell in a teachers' parking lot, Chicago Lawn District Sgt. Mike Mulligan said.
"He knows the schools are a safe haven, and that's where he wanted to get back to," Police Supt. Jody Weis said.
The school was operating on an adjusted schedule because of final exams. The teen was allowed to leave school after finishing an exam.
Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Bond said it was unclear whether the boy was the intended target.
One student said there was a fight last week at the school that forced the school into lockdown, but it's not known if the two incidents are related.
"It's scary because we know we got to watch our backs going home after school," said one student. "Who knows what tomorrow may bring, so we have to be careful."
The teen was alert and talking on the scene and was taken in serious to critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Police are reviewing surveillance video recorded from cameras outside the school. They say they have a couple of shooting suspects in mind, but aren't naming names.
The school is one of 38 high schools named in a new campaign which is sending the bulk of $30 million in federal stimulus dollars to combat violence.
Eighty percent of CPS students who were shot and killed in the last five years attended classes at one of those 38 schools.
