The first day of school turned out to be the last for a popular South Side boy when Melvin Jameswas fatally shot Tuesday afternoon in the South Chicago neighborhood.
At 5:02 p.m., the 14-year-old was standing on the sidewalk in the 8000 block of South Manistee, according to Chicago Police.
Another person walked up to him, pulled out a weapon, and fired shots, police said.
Melvin suffered gunshot wounds to the abdomen and left leg. He was taken Comer Children’s Hospital, where he died at 2 a.m. Wednesday, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
He lived just a couple of blocks away in the same neighborhood where the shooting occurred.
Police believe the shooting was gang-related. Family members said Melvin was never in a gang, but the A and B student had been harassed by gang members in the neighborhood.
A popular boy, Melvin was known for working around the neighborhood and rescuing stray animals, friends said.
No one was in custody as of Thursday morning.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire