Shooting at North Side park that killed boy, 13, 'appears to have been be accident,': alderwoman

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy at a North Side park Friday night appears to be an accident, according to officials.

"The police are investigating, but the shooting appears to have been an accident," Alderwoman Debra Silverstein, 50th Ward, said in a statement Sunday.

The boy, identified as Lavell Winslow, was at Lerner Park in the city's West Ridge neighborhood around 10 p.m. Friday when he was shot in the head, according to Chicago police.

An off-duty police officer heard the shot and saw several teens running from the park.

Police found the boy on a park bench with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to the St. Francis Hospital in critical condition, but he later died.

"He was a bright young man, bright future," Lavell's mother, Vanessa Winslow, said. "He wasn't a bad child, not in a gang. He was just hanging with the wrong crowd."

Lavell's mother said he was an A/B student at West Ridge Elementary School.

The 8th-grader has recently moved into an advanced math class and eventually wanted to have a career in computers after graduating high school.

"He had great potentials. He had a bright future," Vaness said.

He was the youngest of her five children.

Area 3 Detective are investigating.

"There is currently no indication that it was gang related or that it poses an additional threat to the community," Alad. Silverstein said. "My deepest condolences go out to the boy's parents, family, and the entire West Ridge community who is mourning his loss."

According to ABC7 data, Lavell is one of three children killed and 12 children shot so far this month.

Parents who've lost children to gun violence participated in the "Save the Children Conference" Saturday to bring attention to what they call an epidemic in Chicago.

Organizers said the goal of the event was to come up with practical solutions to bring an end to the senseless killings.

Organizers of the "Save the Children Conference" said the goal is to come up with practical solutions to bring an end to the senseless killings.