Moms who've lost kids to gun violence call on Pritzker to declare state of emergency for Chicago
CHICAGO - Chicago Police say the investigation into a South Side school shooting on Tuesday is ongoing and they have not made any arrests.
Surrounded by women who have lost children to gun violence, Johneece Cobb on Wednesday recounted how a school door may have saved her granddaughter’s life when bullets flew.
"They went through the door and hit her. The door slowed the bullets down and saved my baby's life. That's the way I look at it," said Cobb outside Saint Sabina Church on Chicago's South Side.
Cobb's 14-year-old granddaughter was leaving Wendell Phillips Academy High School in the Bronzeville neighborhood Tuesday afternoon when someone outside opened fire, wounding a security guard and the freshman girl.
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Cobb learned of the school shooting when she was at the cemetery, visiting her nephew’s grave. His unsolved murder in 2015 caused Cobb to join the group, Purpose Over Pain, which knows the grief of violence and is calling on Governor JB Pritzker to declare a state of emergency for Chicago.
"We don't want just money. Yeah money is needed for programs, but we want a plan and a strategy to say how are we going to stop this gun violence," said Father Michael Pfleger.
The group outside St. Sabina was asking the school shooter to turn themselves in, suspecting they might be a young person who needs help too.
"Maybe you're hurting and I understand that. I'm hurting too. My grand baby is in a lot of pain. Maybe you feel bad enough to call up here and speak to Father Mike and tell Father Mike, help me. I want to make this right." said Cobb.
The family says the 14-year-old shooting victim had surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. She turns 15 next week and her grandmother says they will celebrate not planning a funeral.