19-Year-Old Son Of Chicago Police Officer Killed On South Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 19-year-old killed early Sunday morning is the son of a Chicago police officer, police officials said.
Family members say Arshell "Trey" Dennis III came to Chicago to visit his mother, and was preparing to return to college. But his life was cut short after he and another man were shot in the Wrightwood neighborhood early Sunday morning.
"Our family is deeply saddened by this tragic and senseless shooting. The loss of our son is stunning and painful," the Dennis Family said in a statement Sunday morning. "Trey was a junior in college at Saint John['s] University, majoring in Journalism. Tragically, we were going to take him to airport today at 3 p.m. to return to school. Now because of this senseless violence, we will be grieving and planning his funeral."
Police say Dennis and a 20-year-old man were sitting outside a home in outside a home in the 2900 block of West 82nd Street shortly after midnight on Sunday, when a man approached and fired shots.
A family spokesperson said the younger Dennis came in from New York on Thursday to surprise his mother for her birthday. He was with friends on the porch steps around midnight when the shots rang out.
Dennis sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. He was later pronounced dead at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park.
Throughout the day Sunday, family and friends visited the block to offer their condolences. Among them was Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, who once served as a patrol officer with Dennis' father, Officer Arshell "Chico" Dennis, in the Gresham District.
Johnson said he was at a loss for words.
"Officer Dennis dedicated his life to make this city safer, and his son Arshell was a good kid, making his parents proud and studying for a promising future as a journalist," the superintendent said in a statement.
A woman who asked to remain unidentified said she knew Dennis from her time as a high school student at Urban Prep Academy.
"He's smart. He had something going for himself. He wasn't out here hanging on the corners," she said. "I was hurt, because it was a senseless act of violence."
She said, because he was studying out of state and was rarely at home, she can't imagine he was the intended target, and she fears the killing was accidental, or a case of mistaken identity.
Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed detectives were investigating the shooting as a likely case of mistaken identity.
"That is the leading theory but nothing is being ruled out at this point," Guglielmi said in an email. He said neither victim had any gang affiliations, criminal records, or previous contact with Chicago police or other law enforcement agencies.
The second victim, a 20-year-old man, was shot in the chest and arm and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in nearby Oak Lawn in serious condition.
"As always, the men and women of the CPD will stop at nothing to find who was responsible and bring a sense of closure and justice to Officer Dennis and all of families affected by violence," Johnson said. "But in order to address the root of this violence, we must change the way the criminal justice system treats the reckless, repeat gun offenders who are causing this violence and send a clear message that when you are involved in gun crimes you will be held accountable."
Early Sunday morning neighbors were shaken by the shooting.
"Everybody's scared. Everybody in this city is scared,"said one neighbor who identified herself as "Carol."
No one was in custody Sunday afternoon. Police are still investigating.
