Edgewater residents express safety concerns, demand solutions at public forum

In the wake of a shooting that left a 16-year-old dead and two others wounded near an Edgewater high school last month, residents are wondering what can be done to address youth violence as community leaders said it would take time to implement effective measures.

During their monthly meeting Tuesday night, the Lincoln police district council addressed public safety concerns after the shooting that killed Daveon Gibson, 16, and wounded two others just two blocks from Senn High School on Jan. 31.

The teen boys, students at Senn, were walking about 3:35 p.m. in the 1200 block of West Thorndale Avenue when a vehicle approached them and several people got out and opened fire. The boys were believed to have been targeted, police said. There have been no arrests in connection with the shooting, but police say it appears to be gang-related.

Daveon’s mother and grandmother attended but were seen leaving the meeting in tears shortly after it began.

A resident who lives in the 1200 block of West Thorndale Avenue said she saw the shooting from her window and wished she could have done more to help.

“I watched from my window crying,” she said. “I’m proud to say a student immediately fell to his knees and started doing CPR to try and save his friend’s life. Help us with the kinds of training we can do as citizens if there is an emergency.

“Thank you to those neighbors who jumped in and helped when I was crying at my window,” she said.

Another resident suggested police create a safe passage for students between Senn High School and the Thorndale CTA Red Line station before and after school.

Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th) said her office is discussing the safe passage proposal with Chicago police, but there are many factors that would need to be taken into consideration to make it happen.

Manaa-Hoppenworth said she was grateful for how the community has stepped up to help the family.

“What we will do today will not bring back a young person,” she said. “It is the beginning of many conversations that we need to have together, and I know it’s hard to hear, but things take time.”

Representatives from the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office attended the meeting and answered questions about the shooting and efforts being made to prevent youth violence.

Greg Martinez of the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety said that after the shooting, citywide programs and services were immediately made available for the family and people who witnessed it.

Martinez said they contacted street outreach programs to help canvass the neighborhood immediately after the shooting.

“We had actual people walking around and canvassing, ensuring that there was no retaliatory violence that could exacerbate the situation that occurred near Senn High School,” he said.

According to Martinez, victim services programs and emergency assistance were made available to the family and residents of the community. He said the mayor’s office helped Gibson’s family with some funds that would go toward funeral expenses, and programs were available to address trauma for the family and observers.

Travis Moore-Murray with the Mayor’s Office of Health and Human Services said it’s important for all city offices to work together to help troubled youth and help reduce crime.

“This starts with government being in the lead and taking the initiative to say: ‘This is how we invest in our young people and take care of them and make them feel safe,’” Moore-Murray said. “I understand the fear, and this is something we take very seriously. Our priority right now is coordination and making sure that the city, the services available in the city and the departments and agencies in the city are working more closely together than they ever have.”

The Jan. 31 attack occurred less than a week after two CPS students, Robert Boston, 16, and Monterio Williams, 17, were shot and killed near Washington Street and Wabash Avenue, just blocks from Millennium Park. They were students at Innovations High School, a charter school at 17 N. State St.

A vigil in honor of Daveon will be held at 5 p.m. Friday near Senn High School.