A 14-year-old boy was fatally shot Thursday night in Auburn Gresham, Chicago police said. The Midwest Hawks youth football team in Country Club Hills said the teen was a former player whose stepfather coaches the team, as the family begins fundraising for fune
Thursday night ended with a gunfire that ripped through a far corner of the South Side and into a youth football program that many families here treat like family.
Chicago police said a 14-year-old boy was shot multiple times around 11:30 p.m. in the 8000 block of South Carpenter Street in Auburn Gresham. Paramedics treated him on scene before he was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died. The boy has not been formally identified.
In Country Club Hills. the Midwest Hawks youth football team said in a statement posted on social media that the boy was a former player. The team wrote that “There are no words that can truly ease the pain of a loss like this. ” saying it grieves alongside a family that has “always been a part of the Hawks family.”.
The statement said the boy’s stepfather coaches the team and that he had four brothers. The team’s message came as his mother began a fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses.
“My baby was so full of life, loving, caring and could make a friend anywhere,” the mother wrote on the fundraiser. “All I have is memories and pictures left. I don’t have a long paragraph but I know my baby was loved.”
The Hawks added that the boy’s mother “has given so much to our program over the years.” The team continued. “To lose a child is a pain no parent should ever have to endure. ” and said. “As a Hawks family. we stand beside them in their grief and will continue to support them in the days. weeks. and months ahead.”.
While investigators continue to piece together what happened after 11:30 p.m. the team’s statement made clear what they feel has already been decided in their community: “Though his life was taken far too soon. his memory will forever remain a part of the Midwest Hawks family. His smile, his presence, and the impact he made on those around him will never be forgotten.”.
Auburn Gresham Chicago police youth football Midwest Hawks Country Club Hills South Carpenter Street University of Chicago Medical Center funeral fundraiser 14-year-old
Why is it always Chicago??
This is so heartbreaking. Auburn Gresham never catches a break. I don’t even understand how a youth football thing turns into gunfire at 11:30pm.
Wait the article says stepfather coaches the team, so like was the shooting connected to the football program? Not that it matters, but I’m just seeing headlines and everyone keeps saying “family” and then “investigators.” Sounds like whoever did it knew somebody there.
Fundraiser for funeral expenses like it’s already a done deal… that part just makes me sick. Also “former player”?? He was 14, how does he already count as former like he wasn’t there every week? Praying for the mom, but Chicago police always “still investigating” and nothing changes.