The shooting that killed sixteen-year-old Hyde Park Academy student Eric Billups and left another student hospitalized on Wednesday came after an earlier fight between Billups and the shooter, police said.
Shots rang out around 3:23 p.m. on Wednesday, just after Hyde Park Academy High School students were dismissed from class for the day.
Billups and a 16-year-old girl were standing outside at a bus stop on the 6300 block of South Stony Island Avenue in Woodlawn — just a stone’s throw from their school — when another a person who witnesses say was wearing a school uniform pulled out a gun and shot both of the teens, authorities said. The shooter was wearing
Police said Billups was shot several times and later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The girl, also 16 years old, was shot in the leg and initially listed in good condition at a local hospital.
The shooter, who has not yet been located by authorities, and Billups got into a fight at school before the shooting and were supposed to fight again. After the first fight, the shooter was released from school early and later returned with a gun, police said.
Seventeen bullet casings were recovered by police at the scene after the shooting.
Friends and family of Billups gathered for a balloon release on Thursday afternoon to honor his life. A memorial with photos and flowers is also growing on a fence near the school.
Billups is the third student at Hyde Park Academy High School killed in the past four weeks. Lania Smith, 18, and 15-year-old Violet Miller were both killed in separate hit-and-runs just nine days apart in late March.
Hyde Park Academy Principal Rosette Edinburg sent a letter to parents and guardians of students at the school on Wednesday evening.
“I am very sorry to share that we have learned that some members of our school community were impacted by this incident. For privacy reasons, I cannot share additional details at this time,” she said.
The school is working with CPS Crisis Management and their own school-based mental health professionals to provide support to students and staff, Edinburg said in the letter. On Thursday, a CPD community policing tent was set up near where the shooting occurred to be available to students after school. A victim advocate was also there to offer counseling.
Edinburg asked parents in the letter to report if their child “voices any fears, concerns, or social-emotional needs” so the school “can ensure their needs are met.”
Chicago Public Schools said “All of us at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are saddened to learn of the loss of a young person’s life and we extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, school and community members impacted by this tragedy” in a statement.
