Police are still searching for the gunman responsible for a shooting outside of Wendell Phillips Academy in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood Tuesday, which left a student and a security guard wounded.
Gunfire rang out as classes were let out for the day Tuesday afternoon. As a 45-year-old security guard at the school opened the doors at dismissal, authorities said a gunman was waiting outside.
“[The gunman is] standing…within 10 feet of the door, and the door opens and he just starts shooting,” CPD Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said.
A 14-year-old girl was hit by gunfire, and was rushed to an area hospital. She was listed in critical condition, according to authorities.
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“I just heard like five shots go off, and I’m like ‘what’s going on? They shooting, they shooting,’” Diana Taylor a student at the school, said.
It is unclear what led to the shooting, but some workers at the school and parents believe it stemmed from an incident that occurred last week.
“I think this spilled out from Friday. He just said he was coming back to blow up the school,” Diana Cooper, a mom of a student at the school, told NBC 5.
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The family of the teen that was injured in the shooting held vigils at her hospital bedside, praying for her recovery.
Anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes said the girl’s mom was waiting for her to come outside after school at the time of the shooting.
“What may have kept this baby alive was that she was looking right at her mother’s face,” he said.
The teen is the granddaughter of a member of the anti-violence group “Purpose Over Pain.” The grandmother will speak at St. Sabina Church on Wednesday morning to call for an end to violence in the city.
Meanwhile, trauma counselors will be available Wednesday at Phillips Academy for students who need it.
Police said no one was in custody with the shooting as of Wednesday morning.
