School mourns another slaying

Teen was campus' 2nd student killed by gun violence in 6 months

By Whitney Woodward | Tribune staff reporter

November 10, 2007

Miguel Gomez, a resident of the violence-plagued Little Village neighborhood, was a troubled teen whose counselors and family members were trying to get him on the right track.

Gomez, 16, was handpicked to join a mentoring program for at-risk students at the School of Social Justice at the Little Village Campus, Principal Rito Martinez said, adding that his parents were working with school officials. But Gomez of the 2600 block of South Komensky Avenue became the eighth Chicago Public Schools student to be killed this school year when he was shot Thursday evening in what police called a gang-related incident."Our students have heavy hearts," Martinez said. "It is very difficult to lose students to gun violence. It is very difficult to teach kids reading and writing while they're mourning their classmates."

Gomez was walking with Ezequiel Lopez, 19, at 30th Street and Kildare Avenue about 4:45 p.m. Thursday when a man approached them on foot and opened fire, striking them both, Chicago Police Officer John Henry said.

Gomez was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Lopez was listed in critical condition at Mt. Sinai Friday evening.

No one was in custody as of Friday evening, authorities said.

Thursday's shooting appears to be in retaliation for a gang murder last week, said Aaron Ramirez, who works to stem violence in conjunction with the gang-intervention program CeaseFire.

Rudy Sosa, who mentored Gomez with CeaseFire, said shootings in Little Village have become all too common in the area.

"People think if you live by the sword you die by the sword, but we're talking about kids," Sosa said. "No kid deserves to be shot."

The school had additional counselors and social workers available to students Friday and a crisis room where teens could mourn and write letters to Gomez, Martinez said. He spoke one-on-one with Gomez's friends, he said.

Gomez was the second School of Social Justice student to die from gun violence in the last six months, Martinez said.

In June, Roberto Duran, 14, was shot and killed while walking with friends in the 4200 block of West 25th Street.

Martinez remembered Gomez as a quiet and respectful teen with a low, serious voice and charming smile.

The principal said he encouraged Gomez's father Nov. 2 to take the teen to Mexico for a couple of months to get away from the negative influences dogging him.

"His dad was really looking into that and was going to do that," Martinez said. "It was a little too late."

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School mourns another slaying

Teen was campus' 2nd student killed by gun violence in 6 months

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