Family of Eric Crawford, the 13-year-old slain while riding his bike, pleads for information. ‘It tears me up,’ says local alderman.
A 13-year-old boy who was shot Sunday morning in the McKinley Park neighborhood died Tuesday afternoon, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
His family is urging anyone with information about the shooting to contact police, they said in a statement.
“The family of 13-year-old Eric Crawford, who was shot Sunday morning in McKinley Park, is grateful for the support and prayers they have received from area residents,” family members said in a statement issued earlier Tuesday through officials at Stroger Hospital, where he was taken after the shooting. “They urge anyone with information on the shooting to contact the Chicago Police Department.”
The boy was riding a bicycle when he was struck in the head and neck by shots from a car driving in the 3700 block of South Wood Street shortly before 8 a.m., police said.
He is among at least seven children 14 or younger who have been shot in Chicago so far in May, according to Chicago Tribune records. At least one other, a 14-year-old boy, was killed.
An online fundraiser described Eric as “a loving caring child who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He was “going to cope with his grandfather having to be tak(en) to the hospital,” and, while riding his bike, was shot, according to the fundraiser, which GoFundMe said was organized by his mother.
Ald. George Cardenas, whose ward encompasses where the shooting occurred, said he donated $1,000 to the fundraiser and has known the family of Eric for many years. He has given them toys, including a bike in the past. Eric’s mother is a single mother, so he said he would try to give support when he could.
“We understand the struggles. We understand sometimes it’s tough,” he said. “We do it for many, many kids in the neighborhood.”
Cardenas said someone from Chicago police told him that drive-by shooting appeared to be “gang-related,” but he had no reason to believe that Eric, an eight grader who “was always going” and “had a lot of energy,” was gang member.
“In my eyes, Eric was a good kid,” he said. “I never saw any tattoos on him or any indication that he was involved in gangs.”
Eric’s mother did reach out to Cardenas at some point before the shooting to tell him that she thought gangs were trying to recruit her son, he said. After the shooting, Cardenas said he and his staff have reached out to local schools to try to keep an ear out for any talk of retaliation for Eric’s death. He is also working on trying to work with schools to identify which kids are at risk and connecting those kids with a social worker or therapist.
“I mean he was a young boy, Jesus.” he said. “I wish things could’ve been different. For me, it tears me up. There’s always an urgency of how to stop this. Sometimes, you get deflated because it’s tough. You think about how you could do more.”
Cardenas said he learned that Chicago police had located and towed a white Toyota SUV on Tuesday that was used in the shooting, but he was not sure on the status of the suspects.
“His mother is having a hard time coping with this we do ask if you have any questions or just condolences to please give us some time to grieve in this very hard time,” the family said in the message on the GoFundMe.
