A man was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon in the parking lot of a Roseland outreach center run by Chicago CRED, a violence prevention organization led by former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
The man, 28, was walking in the 1000 block of East 95th Street around 12:15 p.m. when he was approached by two people, according to Chicago police. One of them pulled out a handgun and fired, striking the man in his head.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. He was identified as Ronnie Roper by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Peter Cunningham, a spokesman for Duncan, said the man was a participant in CRED, which stands for Create Real Economic Destiny and provides therapy, job placement services and programming for men who are at high risk of being perpetrators or victims of gun violence.
The man’s brother is also involved in the program.
Duncan, who once served as the chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, had left the outreach center minutes before the shooting, Cunningham said.
Duncan released a statement saying, “We lost to gun violence a young man who had been with our program for the last nine months. He came to us because he wanted a way out of his life on the streets and had made great progress toward that goal.”
Duncan said the death “is a reminder that we have so much more work to do to make Chicago a safe city with meaningful economic opportunities for everyone, regardless of their background. Our thoughts go to his family and friends as well our staff that has been traumatized by the loss.”
CRED has video surveillance footage that’s being provided to police, Cunningham said.
No one was in custody, according to police.
