As the scene unfolded a few hundred feet in front of her SUV, one question about Tuesday afternoon’s gunfire near Evanston Township High School stuck out to Ald. Jane Grover (7th): “How dare you?”
“In the beginning and the end, these were our people,” Grover said. “We’ve got to look out for them.”
Hoping to encourage more witnesses to come forward, Grover shared her account of the harrowing incident with reporters today at the Starbucks in downtown Evanston.
After an ETHS visit Tuesday afternoon, Grover said she was driving east on Church Street, preparing to turn left onto Dodge Avenue, when she suddenly heard shots ring out from across the intersection. Moments later, she saw a man firing several more shots in the front lawn of a white stucco home on Dodge Avenue. He was wearing a dark shirt and dark pants, she said.
Grover immediately pulled over into an ETHS drop-off lane and called 911, she said. Her 27-second call at 3:58 p.m. turned out to be one of only three reports 911 received about the incident, despite it unraveling near one of the busiest intersections on the city’s west side.
“I witnessed all these witnesses doing nothing,” said Grover, estimating at least 30 other people were in her vicinity.
Police believe the gunfire stemmed from a heated argument between two men on the front yard of a home in the 1600 block of Dodge Avenue. No one was injured and police took several people into custody after the incident, including the two men.
Terrance J. Gunn, a 21-year-old convicted felon, was charged Wednesday with firing at least some of the shots. Police caught him with a .22 semi-automatic pistol as he tried to get away in the 1700 block of Darrow Avenue.
The second man believed to be involved in the violent exchange — the one Grover spotted — was released Wednesday, said Evanston Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott, who joined Grover at the Starbucks, 1734 Sherman Ave. Witnesses were unable to identify the second man, and although officers found shell casings on the front yard consistent with another gun, they did not find a second weapon.
A third person may have been shot at, Parrott said. At this time, police do not know what caused the dispute.
Both men have gang affiliations but there is no evidence their squabble was gang-related, Parrott said.
Grover was visibly upset as she recalled her experience, sketching out a map of the intersection for reporters’ reference.
“I’ve been so angry since then, actually … that there’s some idiot on our street shooting at our people across from our high school at four o’clock in the afternoon,” Grover said.
Parrott stressed the incident is still under investigation, but a hostile environment near ETHS has made it difficult for detectives to do their jobs.
“They’re not cooperative with the police,” Parrott said. “They don’t talk with the police. They’re not going to snitch on one another.”
Parrott urged reluctant members of the community to “meet in the middle” with police and understand any information they may have could prevent the next murder in their backyard.
“The truth of the matter is an innocent person is going to get shot and killed, which has already happened,” Parrott said. “And it’s going to happen again if this activity keeps continuing.”
