Family, Friends Search for Comfort After 13-Year-Old Killed

On Easter Sunday, family and friends of a 13-year-old boy gunned down on his family's front porch gathered to comfort one another.

Adrian Luna died, and two other teens were wounded in a shooting Saturday night in the South Side's Archer Heights neighborhood.

"It's very painful not to have him today," his brother, Erik Lopez, said.  "He was just a little kid." 

"He was an amazing kid.  He had a full life ahead of himself.  It just amazes me how his life was taken away from him like that," said Natalie Giron, a family friend.

Other neighborhood youth who gathered at the family's home on Sunday said Adrian's death hit them hard.

"We're all family ... we all grew up together.  It's hard to see one of our little friends go," said Rebeca Giron.

While the shooters reportedly shouted gang slogans at the victims before they opened fire, police Sunday have not yet determined the exact motive for the shooting.  Adrian's family said he was not part of any gang.

The shooting took place at 9:49 p.m. near the intersection of South Spaulding Avenue and West 46th Street, police said. The 13-year-old and two other males — ages 15 and 16 -- were walking on the sidewalk when two males emerged from a gangway and fired shots, police said.

The victims told police that before the shots were fired the shooters yelled gang slogans, police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez said.

Luna, of 4600 block South Spaulding Avenue, was pronounced dead at 11:19 at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Police said the 13-year-old boy was shot in the body and head.

The 15-year-old was shot in the left forearm and thigh, and a 16-year-old boy was shot in the left forearm. Both were taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. Perez said the 15-year-old was listed in critical condition and the 16-year-old was in fair condition.

The Fire Department initiated an EMS Plan 1 response to bring at least fire ambulances to the scene, Fire Media Affairs said.

Police as of Sunday morning had not determined an exact motive for the shooting, Perez said.

Central Area detectives are investigating.