Akeem Briscoe was washing his hands in the bathroom, preparing for dinner, when a stray bullet came through a window and struck him in the abdomen around 8:20 p.m. He was rushed to Stroger Hospital, dying hours later, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
The Chicago family is mourning the loss after the recent death of its patriarch. Within days of the father’s funeral, his son was fatally shot, a victim of gang violence, becoming the 12th child under the age of 13 to be killed in 2022 in the city.
The young boy had just buried his father on the previous Saturday. His dad succumbed to heart disease and did not make it out of surgery.
“He said he didn’t want his dad to be gone, and he wanted to be with him,” said Akeem’s uncle Terribia Misters. “Now he’s where his dad’s at.”
The tragedy happened on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 26, after gang members were fighting in an alleyway near his home in the 2600 block of West Potomac Avenue in Humboldt Park. The argument escalated into gunplay, resulting in the second grader’s death.
Akeem’s premature death comes days after another boy’s death. That child, just one year older, was killed in the Bronzeville section of the “Windy City.”
“He just loved going and playing with the kids, doing different things,” Misters said. “He had a dog he called Angel. Now he’s an angel himself.”
According to a source within the Chicago Police Department, a possible theory is that the shooting was a dispute between members of the same Maniac Latin Disciples sect. They believe the group could be responsible for two other shootings that happened in the city recently.
Law enforcement said they took four men into custody after the shooting. The gang members were all on one side of the shooting. The warring faction of the gang has not been apprehended by the CPD.
A reward of $15,000 is now being offered for information about the shooting, according to ABC 7.
Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked for the person who “know who did this” to surrender himself, noting another child was murdered on the South Side of the city adding to the municipality’s gun crisis.
“These two boys should have been in school today, anxiously awaiting a weekend of fun. They should have gone on celebrating every year afterward,” Lightfoot said. “Instead, today, two families have been ripped apart. Tragic loss that the families are dealing with, and a city, once again, is mourning the loss of two of our precious young people.”
She continued, “This didn’t happen in a vacuum. There are people out there … within the sound of my voice who know exactly what happened. You must, must come forward. These families are deeply grieving. Come forward for them.”
The uncle joined the mayor’s plea, adding, “If you got a soul or something inside your body, turn yourself in, man. He was loved by a lot of people, so that should tell you something.”
Misters revealed the boy’s mother, older brother and sister were also in the house but were not injured by the bullet. Their hearts were shattered to have lost another person in the family within such a short time.
“They had to see their little brother get shot,” said Misters. “On his way to the hospital, he said, ‘I’m OK.’ ”
Misters also remembered his last conversation with his nephew, saying it was about homework and an upcoming trip the next day. The young man’s lunch for the trip had been prepared by his mother and he was “excited to go.”
“He asked me, ‘Uncle Tibbs, you should come with me,’ ” Misters recalled. “He was so excited to go. Life is short. He’s gone so early … Life is not fair. Innocent kids shouldn’t be getting killed.”
A lady who lived across the street from the family said she heard the shots and counted between 10 to 12 of them.
“I have a bad habit of counting when I hear noises like that,” said the neighbor. “It’s different. It’s not like it’s a balloon popping.”
After seeing a woman crying for the police, the woman whose name has been withheld for her safety, said to herself, “Please, not another kid.”
A vigil, originally planned for Thursday night at the home, was disrupted after more shots were fired in the area, leaving the small crowd to disperse.
A GoFundMe has been set up by neighbors to help pay for the boy’s funeral expenses. In addition to asking people not to post pictures of Akeem, Reaghan Hunt explained the urgent need.
In 10 days, the community has raised $26,140, one thousand more than the goal.
According to sources, in 2022, 298 children have been shot in the city of Chicago. Of that number 41 young people under the age of 18 have died from gun violence this year.
