12-year-old boy killed in Englewood: ‘They were shooting, and he caught the bullet’

Twelve-year-old Damien Green was walking to his grandmother’s home in Englewood as he usually did most Sundays.

After attending church with her that morning, the child stopped by a school to play basketball. But as he returned to his grandmother’s home to wait for his mother to clock out of work, gunfire rang out into a group of people near Marquette Road and Lowe Avenue.

“It wasn’t meant for him,” his grandmother, Irene Tripp, told the Sun-Times. “They were shooting, and he caught the bullet.”

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Chicago police said they responded to a ShotSpotter alert around 6:30 p.m. and found Damien.

He was lying face up in the street with a gunshot wound to his head, Deputy Police Chief Gilberto Calderon told reporters.

Damien was found less than two blocks from his home in the 1200 block of West Marquette Road. He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:21 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Officers responded in less than two minutes to a ShotSpotter call of three gunshots detected nearby, according to recorded police radio transmissions. An officer who arrived on the scene radioed: “We’ve got a juvie that’s shot in the head.”

Calderon asked anyone with information to contact police.

“It’s up to the community to come with us to solve this tragedy,” Calderon said. “We have very few details at this point.”

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

The shooting happened next to Ryan Harris Memorial Park, a two-block stretch of green space between Lowe and railroad tracks. The block is lined with duplex homes, some abandoned, and a few empty lots.

Detectives could be seen knocking on doors Monday morning.

Neighbors said the shooting happened about halfway down the 6700 block of Lowe. Drops of what appeared to be blood were still wet on the pavement next to one of the empty lots.

About 30 to 40 people went running after the gunfire, said neighbor Dinangelo Marcano, although he said it was unclear what happening before the shooting.

Damien often stayed with extended family while his mother worked, his grandmother said.

“He was a sweet child, very respectful. He loved eating noodles with hot sauce,” Tripp said.

Damien attended Benjamin E. Mays Elementary Academy.

“We are devastated at the loss of another young life,” a CPS spokesperson said. “The thoughts and condolences of the entire Chicago Public Schools family are with all those impacted by this tragedy.”

At a news conference, 6th Ward Ald. William Hall appealed to the public “to let our officers do their job.”

“When is another kid going to get shot before we finally figure out that kids matter?” he asked. “This is the city of big shoulders. How many children are we putting on our shoulders?”

Damien was killed steps away from Ryan Harris Memorial Park, 6781 S. Lowe Ave. In July 1998, Ryan Harris’ body was found blocks from the Lowe Avenue address a day after her family reported her missing. Her rape and murder sparked a national outcry after two boys, ages 7 and 8, were arrested only to later be released.

At least seven children 13 and younger have been the victims of homicide in Chicago this year, according to data kept by the Sun-Times. For all of last year, the total was 14.

Contributing: Anthony Vazquez