District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon acknowledged Thursday that a recent spate of gun violence in Evanston has led to heightened unease among the several thousand students who attend the city’s only high school.
“The Evanston Police Department indicates that these recent tragic events in the community are not random acts of violence and they are making every effort to keep our community safe,” Witherspoon said in a letter to Evanston Township High School parents. “Nonetheless, many of our teachers and staff, students and their families have been experiencing various levels of grief, fear, anxiety and frustration as a result of these tragic deaths and the senseless gun violence in our community.”
Witherspoon’s statement is another public recognition that three related shootings in the past two weeks have caused what Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl described Wednesday as an “unusual” time of unrest in the city.
Shortly before midnight Nov. 29, 19-year-old Justin Murray was shot dead in front of his grandmother’s house in the 1800 block of Brown Avenue. On the morning of Murray’s funeral nine days later, a 20-year-old Evanston man was wounded on Howard Street in what police called a retaliation for the teen’s murder. The apparent back-and-forth claimed another life early Wednesday morning, when 23-year-old Javar Bamberg was shot in the head and killed in the 1700 block of Grey Avenue.
Evanston Police believe this violent autumn is the latest flashpoint in a bloody feud between two extended families that may date back to 2005.
“While we grieve with our local families over their losses, the entire Evanston community has been shaken,” Tisdahl said in a statement Wednesday. “Our children are concerned for their safety and all residents are questioning this unusual period of events.”
Tisdahl and Witherspoon’s remarks signal growing concern among city leaders that the long-simmering tensions could endanger the broader public.
Their worries are not unwarranted. In September, ETHS freshman Dajae Coleman was gunned down while walking home from a party. It turned out the shooter had mistaken the 14-year-old’s clique for another group.
EPD Cmdr. Jay Parrott said Wednesday that the city can be fertile ground for drawn-out conflicts among ETHS community members.
The two fatal shootings happened in the west side neighborhood across the street from the school.
“Due to the dynamics of Evanston, everybody knows a lot of people, and there’s one high school,” Parrott said. “These are groups that are formed sometimes within the neighborhoods and they align themselves with the different groups.”
In his letter, Witherspoon urged ETHS families to remain vigilant and report any potentially helpful information to Text-a-Tip, an anonymous texting system for any sensitive knowledge. He also encouraged parents to firm up their children’s transportation plans if they stay after school for extracurricular activities or athletic practice.
“Please remember that we are members of a community … we must work together to address our own fears and our heightened worries,” Witherspoon wrote. “While the Evanston police and city officials are taking steps to address the violence in our community, we can all be taking steps to keep ourselves safe.”
Marshall Cohen contributed reporting.
— Patrick Svitek
