Leroy Bryant, 16, had just left an award ceremony and championship game for a summer basketball league, when his family says he was caught in gang crossfire.
"Right now he's doing well, he's in recovery. He lost a kidney. The bullet traveled to his lungs but his lungs are okay," said Tequila Robinson, victim's mom.
Bryant's family stands vigil at Stroger Hospital. Bryant was shot seven times Wednesday night, just a few hours after he participated in a summer basketball event on the South Side. His mother says bullets remain lodged in his neck and his shoulder-- they were too risky to remove.
"I am very blessed," said Robinson. "My son got shot seven times, one in the neck, one in the shoulder, two in his stomach, one in his back and one in the leg."
The shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. across the street from a gas station near 71st and King Drive in the Park Manor neighborhood.
Police say a gunman came out of an alley and opened fire. A 14-year-old girl was shot in the leg. She's recovering at Comer Children's Hospital. A 49-year-old man who walked outside to have a cigarette was shot in the groin. Romel Collins owns a barber shop near the shooting scene.
"Yeah it bothers me, it bothers me deep because the little kids are not giving each other a chance," said Romel Collins, barber shop owner.
Park district officials say the team summer basketball league championship game and awards ceremony in Meyering Park was over by 7:30 p.m., four hours before the shooting happened a block away. The tournament is meant to work with at-risk kids and draws hundreds ages 13 to 18.
"My son is a very good young man. I mean, during the daytime, he is at Hirsch Metropolitan practicing football and after 12 p.m. in the afternoon he is at the park district to keep himself away from the gangs and this happens to him coming home," said mom Tequila Robinson.
"It's a beautiful thing because it's crowded, little kids are out here and all this month they've been having events in the park every week. Nice events," said Collins.
"It wasn't my son's time. He's not a gangbanger, he's not a drug dealer. He plays football in the daytime, basketball in the evening. He's home by 7:30. It wasn't his time," said Robinson.
Robinson says her son will be in the hospital for at least another six days. She said he spoke with police on Thursday, but had trouble speaking.
Police say they are not questioning any suspects and do not have anyone in custody.
