Two South Shore High School students were shot Monday while waiting for a bus outside the school at about the time classes were dismissed, officials said.
The students, 17 and 18, are expected to survive their injuries, authorities said.
The two were among a group of students waiting for a bus at 75th Street and Constance Avenue about 2:40 p.m. when a gunman approached and opened fire, striking the two teens, Chicago police Cmdr. Christopher Fletcher said. The gunman fled north on foot.
One of the wounded students flagged down a westbound bus, and paramedics were called, CTA officials said.
No one was in custody as of late Monday, and the motive for the shooting was unclear. Investigators will be examining footage from the bus and a nearby surveillance camera.
One of the wounded students, identified by his father as Raymond Pope Jr., 18, was being treated Monday night at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to his family. Raymond Pope Sr. said his son suffered a wound to his thigh.
Police said the other student was shot in the buttocks and back.
Pope's father said security at the high school needs to be improved.
"They need to step their game up," he said. "There's supposed to be security for my child to get (from the school) onto that bus."
He said his son is a senior at South Shore who enjoys playing basketball, football and chess. He had never had problems at the school before Monday, he said. He also said his son and the other victim are best friends and went to grammar school together.
Pope Sr. said he's also been dealing with his sickly mother, who has been hospitalized elsewhere for about a week with pneumonia.
But he said he did not think he could find it in his heart to forgive whoever shot his son and his best friend.
"This guy has no remorse for human life to shoot (at people)," he said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
