Rosemary Sobol
CHICAGO — A man and a 16-year-old boy were killed and four other people were wounded in shootings in Chicago on Thursday through early Friday, police said.
The boy, Joseph Smith, was shot on the West Side around 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the 800 block of North Waller Avenue in the South Austin neighborhood, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
He suffered wounds to the abdomen, face and possibly chest, police said. He was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital.
The other fatal shooting happened on the Northwest Side about 1:45 p.m. in the 4100 block of West Leland Avenue in the Mayfair neighborhood. A 26-year-old man was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head during a well-being check, police said. He lived on the block where he was found.
On Wednesday night, police had responded to a call of shots fired on the same block and found an apartment window across the street shattered, according to a source, citing preliminary information.
In a North Side shooting, a 21-year-old student at Truman Middle College was wounded around 12:10 p.m. in the 4500 block of North Magnolia Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood. Police said the victim and the shooter, who belonged to rival gangs, got into a dispute earlier in the day inside the building housing the school, then argued again on the street just west of the campus, police said.
The rival gang member pulled a gun and shot the 21-year-old in the chest and leg. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition, police said.
A person of interest was being questioned, police said. Police said the men involved do not live in the area, and the attack was not connected to any Uptown gang conflicts.
Truman Middle College is a program for students 17 to 21 who want to finish their high school education. It is housed in the same building as Truman College at 1145 W. Wilson Ave.
Katheryn Hayes, spokeswoman for City Colleges of Chicago, which administers the program, said students were asked not to leave through the Wilson Avenue exit for a brief time after the shooting.
