Photo: ABC 7 Chicago/YouTube
A tragic incident unfolded in Country Club Hills, Illinois, over the weekend when a father was shot and killed while leaving a school basketball game with his son. The Country Club Hills Police Department confirmed the fatal shooting in a press release shared on Facebook on Sunday morning, November 10. The shooting, which is being investigated as a homicide, occurred on Saturday, November 9.
The identity of the victim has not been publicly released at this time. According to the press release, the suspects, described as “multiple armed offenders,” were “laying in wait at the back of the high school parking lot” inside a black Infinity Q50 during the basketball game. The offenders then observed the victim leaving the game with his juvenile son, and after approaching them, “blocked the victim’s path to his vehicle.”
The assailants then drew their weapons and opened fire on the victim, police said. Officers arrived at the scene at approximately 1:09 p.m., but the offenders had already fled. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Remarkably, the victim’s son was not physically harmed during the attack.
According to ABC 7 Chicago, the Prairie Hills Junior High boys basketball team had been participating in a tournament at Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills at the time of the shooting. Local activist Stringer Harris, who spoke to the news station, expressed his dismay over the incident. “A kid had a great game… he’s feeling good about himself and now turn that happiness and joy upside down to be at the hospital around family,” he said on Saturday.
Harris, who mentors at the school weekly, added, “It’s sad… not only is this my former high school… I mentor here every week. I’m here at this school to teach about gun violence, and to see this happen here on this campus once again is sad.” Some students, he said, had even expressed a desire to transfer out of Prairie Hills Junior High due to the violence.
“I’m telling them it’s not a good idea. It’s not the school that’s the problem. It’s not the kids that go to the school,” he emphasized. “It’s always outside.” Bremen High School District 228 expressed its condolences over the weekend, offering support to the grieving community.
