[ Teenager Murdered Catching a Bus from School ] Father Of Slain 15-Year-Old Shares Heartbreaking Message To Chicago: ‘How Did Our City Get Here?’
Caleb Westbrooks, 15, was shot Tuesday a few blocks north of Rauner College Prep, where he was a freshman. His dad said the young football player was walking to catch a bus home from school when someone opened fire.
January 20, 2022 Statement from Corneal Westbrooks, father of Caleb Westbrooks
Tuesday, my family received the most devastating news a family can receive when we learned that my son, Caleb Westbrooks, was inexplicitly shot and killed while walking to catch a bus home from Rauner College Prep. Our world is shattered. Caleb was a smart, vivacious and athletic teenager who was looking forward to a bright future with goals and dreams that now will go unfulfilled.
We want to thank his friends and witnesses who, after hearing the shots, ran to him, comforted him and stayed with him. We also want to thank the paramedic/EMTs who cared for him and got him to the hospital, the 12th District police officers who were on scene and the detectives now investigating this heinous crime.
Additionally, we are grateful to the neighbors in the Noble Square area who have assisted those detectives in their investigation.
Caleb was one of five teens shot in Chicago Tuesday. Five! Caleb also was the second student to be shot and killed walking home from school in less than a week. How did our city get here? Have Chicagoans become desensitized to the violence that permeates virtually every corner of our city?
Unfortunately, this senseless violence is likely to continue unabated until the elected and appointed leadership of the city and county stop pointing fingers at one another and take personal responsibility for the role they have played in the disintegration of the criminal justice system as well as the lack of critical mental health services in Chicago and Cook County. We appreciate the outreach we have received and the events planned in Caleb’s honor by people important in his life. But for now, we ask for privacy as we mourn the loss of our irreplaceable Caleb.
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