A 26-year-old Evanston man was shot Monday morning and died later at a local hospital.
Demiko Kennedy was shot once on the 1700 block of Grey Avenue, said Cmdr. Michael Perry of Evanston Police Department.
The west Evanston shooting is the city’s first homicide this year.
Kennedy was shot just north of Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave., and was taken to Evanston Hospital, 2650 Ridge Ave. He was pronounced dead at 3:33 p.m.
Perry said late Monday night police had no suspects in custody. He would not comment on details of the shooting and said it is not known if anyone was with the victim when the incident happened.
There was no indication the shooting was drug- or gang-related, Perry said.
ETHS Superintendent Allan Alson said police told him Monday afternoon of the shooting, which occurred during regular school hours.
“We are always troubled by the loss of life,” Alson said. “Obviously our first concern is our students, but we are also concerned with the community members.”
Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) spoke about the shooting during Monday’s City Council meeting. According to a recent report, she said, crime in Evanston has increased.
“Crime is not down in this town, and I don’t know what the answer is,” Rainey said. “One of our kids could have been walking across the street at ETHS and been hit by this (bullet).”
Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) said: “We have to really pay attention to (increases in violent crimes) by intervening in the lives of young people at a more aggressive level.”
Both EPD and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force are investigating the incident.
NORTAF, a team made up of regional law enforcement officials, investigates all major violent crimes in 11 communities, including Evanston, Skokie and Wilmette.
Anyone with information about Monday’s shooting should contact EPD at 847-866-5000, ext. 5040, or NORTAF at 847-853-7580.
The last murder in Evanston was Oct. 24, when Joseph Harry Isibor Fouche, of Chicago, was shot and killed on Howard Street. Officers found Fouche sprawled in a fast-food restaurant parking lot on the 1100 block of Howard.
Police were unsure of the motives for that shooting, but family members have said Fouche’s death was the result of a carjacking.
Monday’s shooting was two blocks west and one block south of a May 2002 shooting that killed LaShuane Bishop, 21, and injured three others on Brown Avenue.
NORTAF officers later arrested Donivan Simmons, 18, of the 1900 block of Church Street. He was charged in the May 2002 shooting with two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and three counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
The Daily’s Jaime Griesgraber and Andy Nelson contributed to this report.
