Manhunt for Young Gang Killer

Two men dropping a student off at a South Side high school were shot Friday afternoon outside the building, authorities said. One man was killed. About 12:20 p.m., the two male victims, both 19, were sitting inside a parked vehicle outside DuSable High School, 4934 S. Wabash, when a gunman approached on foot and began firing into the vehicle, according to police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor.

The driver got out of the vehicle and fled on foot, but he was chased by the shooter, who continued to fire at him, Taylor said.

The wounded man ended up running in the building, which houses three schools -- DuSable Leadership Academy, Bronzeville Scholastic High School and the Daniel Hale Williams Preparatory School of Medicine. He was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in serious to critical condition, Fire Media Affairs Chief Kevin MacGregor said.

The other man, who was apparently a passenger in the car -- a blue Dodge Charger -- was fatally shot. A witness said the slain man remained dead in the car, which was parked on Wabash about 200 feet from the school's main entrance, at 1:45 p.m.

The person killed was a male between the ages of 17 and 21, according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Witnesses on the scene said the men shot were not students at DuSable, the Sun-Times is reporting. Police said the student who was dropped off was not hurt.

The midday gunfire drew a sharp reaction from Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis. The shooter “engages two targets, runs down the street, almost at high noon, shooting at them,’’ Weis said.

“He gets in a car and drives away. This is not the Wild, Wild West. This is Chicago, Ill. We’ve got to get some sort of peace back to the streets here.”

The shooter fled across a vacant lot and into a nearby waiting car after the shooting, and Chicago Police were searching for him this afternoon, a department spokesman said. That car was described as a four-door gray or silver vehicle with a sunroof.

The shooter was wearing a dark hoodie and jeans. Police were also checking surveillance cameras in the area. Several bullet casings sat in the street with police evidence markers resting nearby, according to the witness who said students from DuSable Leadership Academy got out at 1 p.m. to pick up caps and gowns for their Monday graduation.

The witness said some students were still in class when the shots were fired and they peered out windows to see what happened. Chicago Public Schools spokesman Malon Edwards said the school was placed on lockdown, though he did not know how long the lockdown lasted. 

No one is in custody for the shooting, Taylor said. Wentworth Area detectives are investigating.