Stunned students at Englewood High School today mourned the loss of one of their most popular classmates, the captain and star player of the school’s basketball team who was shot to death outside the school Monday.
Maurice Davis, 18, of the 11800 block of South Vincennes Avenue, was fatally wounded apparently while trying to protect his sister from two other male students, police and school officials said. His sister, 17, was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and was released.
Two “persons of interest” were in taken into custody immediately after the incident and were being held, and police have recovered the gun they believed was used in the shooting, said police Cmdr. Frank Trigg. No charges had been filed as of midafternoon.
Chicago Public Schools chief executive Arne Duncan came to Englewood High today to talk to students, including members of Davis’ basketball team.
“There are some great kids at this school, and they are really hurting right now. They’re going to work thorugh this together,” Duncan said in remarks to reporters afterward.
Duncan told the team one of the greatest lessons he learned during his days of playing basketball was the importance of the camaraderie that comes from being on a team.
While the investigation into the incident continues, Duncan said it appears security officers stationed at the school handled the situation properly. He said two officers stopped the main suspect as he tried to flee the scene of the shooting.
Students, meanwhile, tried as best as they could to cope with Davis’ death.
Nina Williams, an 18-year-old senior, led a group of students in prayer around a makeshift memorial, set up at the base of a tree at the corner of Englewood and Stewart Avenues, across the street from Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.
“He always had his eye on the prize,” Williams said of Davis. “I just fell like all of this could ahve been avoided. I just hope we take heed of this.”
Another student at the mourning tree, Bobbie Banks, a 16-year-old sophomore, said, “He was very sweet. He didn’t bother nobody. He never missed a day out of his classes. He was a great basketball player and he was planning on going into the NBA. I think about six colleges knew about him.”
Officials said they had designated three areas in the school ? two classrooms and the auditorium — where grief counselors on hand to meet with students.
School officials said the shooting apparently stemmed from a fight between the 17-year-old girl and the alleged shooter earlier that day inside the school.
