Student activist killed in shooting weeks after protesting police presence in CPS

A student leader with a youth activist group that has been prominent in the push to remove police from Chicago Public Schools died Sunday morning after he was shot two days earlier in the West Rogers Park neighborhood.

Caleb Reed, a 17-year-old junior at Mather High School on the North Side, just weeks earlier had spoken about his traumatic experience with officers at his school at a news conference with public officials ahead of a Board of Education vote on a $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department.

Late last week, officers found Reed lying on a sidewalk about 1 p.m. Friday in the 1900 block of West Granville Avenue, authorities said. He had been shot in the head and was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, according to Chicago police.

Reed died at the hospital at 6:40 a.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Police have not announced an arrest.

Reed was a student leader with the group Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), which has been one of several student groups advocating for the removal of officers from CPS.

VOYCE coordinator Maria Degillo said Reed was a dynamic and fearless young man who did everything he could to teach “people how to love and value Black lives.”

Reed was also the “heart and soul” of the campaign to remove police officers from Chicago schools, Degillo said.

“He spoke about it so eloquently because he had that experience himself,” said Degillo, referencing Reed’s arrest during a sophomore basketball game for not having an ID.

“Caleb was a force to be reckoned with,” Degillo said. “... He put his heart and soul into what he did. He didn’t just speak for himself: He spoke for young Black men, for the city, for the nation.”

Reed didn’t just call for police to be removed from schools and for departments to be defunded, Degillo said. Reed also called for money to be reinvested into communities torn by violence in the form of additional counselors and mental healthcare workers, she said.

Meyiya Coleman, a VOYCE alumni who worked with Reed, said Reed was determined to make a change and “loved being a Black man.”

“He was literally so proud to say, ‘I’m Black.’ He was one of those young people who would light up a room,” said Coleman, 21. “He was super funny.”

As a member of VOYCE, Reed organized news conferences, events and contributed research for a VOYCE study on how healthcare can be administered better to people of color, Degillo said.

Reed was also learning American Sign Language so he could communicate better with his parents, who are both deaf, Degillo said.

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) described Reed as “a light in our community,” retweeting a post from student-led anti-violence group GoodKids MadCity that highlighted Reed’s activism.

“Caleb was a son, a brother, a community organizer, and a neighbor. His light and potential have been extinguished at the hands of gun violence, like so many others in Chicago,” Vasquez said in a statement. “As a city we need to address the root causes of this violence, which is the segregation and disinvestment in the communities that need it the most for generations now.”

“Caleb was also an activist and advocate – most recently for the movement to remove School Resource Officers out of Chicago Public Schools. I ask that we honor his work by continuing it and we pray for his family,” Vasquez continued.

Reed spoke at a rally in June alongside other activists and Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) and Ald. Rod Sawyer (6th) to protest the contract between CPS and CPD, which the school board soon after narrowly voted to keep intact for now.

“My sophomore year of high school I was arrested for attending a basketball game because I didn’t have my ID,” Reed said at the rally outside City Hall. “I sat in a police station for six hours. I knew it wasn’t right at all, but inside I was angry, confused.

“One thing I’m here to say is I’m proud to be a Black young man,” Reed said. “It’s not a good feeling to be labeled as dangerous or criminals. Because we’re not. ... No Black person should ever feel like this.”

Contributing: Nader Issa