Boy dies as shots are fired at crowd, South Side slaying followed a dispute

Charles SheehanTribune staff reporterPublished April 15, 2006

Family members struggled Friday to understand how Jordan Wilkerson, 14, ended up lying on a South Side sidewalk, slain by a bullet fired into a crowd.Witnesses said Wilkerson's death followed an altercation outside a fast-food restaurant about 1 a.m. Friday in the 8700 block of South Wabash Avenue. A trail of blood dozens of feet long traced the last few moments of his life as he staggered down the sidewalk, police said."I was just talking to him an hour before that when he walked with me to the train station," said his cousin Sam Peters. "I thought he was going with me, but he went back, said he was going to wait for his brother, Lil' Bill."Police were trying to determine the motive.Wilkerson was standing with about 15 other people on the sidewalk when two females began shoving each other, according to Zarrick Griffin, who was in his car about 20 feet away.The fight may have started just north outside a McDonald's restaurant, witnesses said."I saw a guy walk away and say, `It's over with,' and he got into a van with three others," Griffin said. "There was one of those sliding doors on the van, and someone started shooting from there, right were it was parked."Everyone, including Wilkerson, ran north, Griffin said.Spatters of blood indicate that he took about 80 steps before ducking between two houses, where he collapsed.The gray van sped south and then west toward the Dan Ryan Expressway, Griffin said.Wilkerson was pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.Wilkerson was shot about a block north of his grandfather's home, where he sometimes spent the night.It is not known whether Wilkerson was the target, Chicago police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said.William Howell, 78, was just getting into bed in his home directly across the street from where Wilkerson was shot."I heard, `boom, boom, boom, boom,'" Howell said. "I was in the Korean War, and I know the sound of guns. That was a big gun."Police told family members that they are reviewing a videotape from a gas station next to the McDonald's where the fight occurred."He was just like any other kid," Peters said. "He loved to play sports and hang out with his friends, which is what he was doing last night."----------







Top cop to seeks curfew announcements
April 15, 2006
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN AND ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporters
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Chicago Police Supt. Phil Cline asked local television stations to air public service announcements on curfew laws after a 14-year-old boy was gunned down early Friday near his grandfather's South Side home.
While the motive for Jordan Wilkerson's murder remained unclear, Cline warned that juveniles out past curfew can not only become victims of crime but also get involved in criminal activity themselves.
"We're going to make a big effort as the weather is warming up to take juveniles off the streets, but the primary responsibility belongs to parents," Cline said. "They need to know where their underage children are at, and if they aren't at home, they need to find out where they're at and bring them home."
Cline wants TV stations to run public service announcements announcing curfews at 10:30 p.m. on weeknights and 11:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays, informing parents that their children 16 and under should be home.
The commercials would ask, "Do you know where your children are at?" Cline said.
Fran Preston, the station manager for WBBM-Channel 2, didn't know why TV stations stopped running curfew announcements but was willing to talk with police about reinstating them. Preston said she is serving on a media committee set up by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) to help stem street violence in the Englewood neighborhood. "We're open to it," Preston said of Cline's request.
Boy was visiting grandfather
Wilkerson was shot around 1 a.m. after a fight among girls he and other boys were standing with in the 8800 block of South Wabash, police spokeswoman Robin Mohr said. A few people walked away during the altercation, but the girls continued arguing. Some of the girls were attacked with pepper spray and had asked some neighbors to help them clean up, neighbors said.
A short time later, a male inside a van fired a gun at the group, Mohr said. Wilkerson, of the 9800 block of South Harlem in southwest suburban Chicago Ridge, was shot twice in the head, Mohr said.
It was unclear if the van had been parked on an adjacent street or drove up to the boys and girls, Mohr said.
Wilkerson was in the neighborhood to visit his grandfather, a retired Chicago Police officer, said Calumet Area Sgt. Stan Salabura. Based on preliminary reports, the shooting did not appear to be gang-related, Salabura said.
Neighbor Rhonda Cook said she thought the gunshots were coming from the television set. But when she looked outside, she saw "blood all over the sidewalk." Cook called Wilkerson and his friends "respectful little children" who never caused trouble.
"This is new for us," said William Howard, 78, another neighbor. "I was devastated. It was very quiet around here."


He was my brother...

I'm taking a blogging break... My world is shattering.

Peace, y'all.