Pedro Ramirez, 17, was an honor roll student and athlete at Tilden High School.
CHICAGO, IL — A 17-year-old boy walking to school was killed Tuesday morning when masked gunmen opened fire in Back of the Yards, also wounding two men who were sitting in a nearby vehicle, police and relatives said.
The shooting left Pedro Ramirez dead, two men hospitalized and a South Side block covered with evidence markers during the morning commute. Police said a person of interest was in custody by Wednesday, but no charges had been announced. Investigators had not said who they believe was targeted or what led to the gunfire.
The attack happened about 7:40 a.m. Tuesday in the 5000 block of South Throop Street, near West 50th Street. Police said a dark SUV pulled up, at least one person got out and began shooting. Ramirez, who family members said was walking to a bus stop on his way to Tilden High School, was hit several times. He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. “He always said, ‘I will never miss school unless I’m very sick, or unless I’m dying,’” Mario Rosales, Ramirez’s best friend, said. “He actually died, so it really hurts my heart.”
The gunfire also struck two men, ages 55 and 61, who were inside a red Dodge Caravan. Police said the 61-year-old man was shot in the back and the 55-year-old man was shot in the right arm. The driver continued for about a half-mile before stopping at a tire shop in the 5000 block of South Ashland Avenue. A worker who identified himself as Leo said the van arrived with a flat tire and a shattered rear window. He said the driver asked for paramedics, and he called for help. Both men were taken to Stroger Hospital. Police first described them as critically wounded.
More than 80 evidence markers were seen near the shooting scene, where neighbors and bystanders tried to help before emergency crews arrived. A witness who gave her name as Vicky said she saw Ramirez on the ground and saw police and others trying to perform CPR. “I don’t think that boy was doing anything bad,” she said. “I think he was going to school. He had a backpack. He was still a baby.” The shooting happened a few blocks from Peace and Education Coalition High School, an alternative high school for people ages 16 to 21, though police did not say Ramirez had any connection to that school.
Ramirez’s family said he was a junior at Tilden High School, where he earned straight A’s, made the honor roll, captained the soccer team and played volleyball. His mother, Eloisa Garcia, said the family was stunned by his death. “Our lives changed completely, and this is like a dream,” Garcia said. Asucena Velasquez, Ramirez’s mother and Garcia’s partner, said in Spanish that he was only going to school when he was killed. Friends and relatives gathered near South Throop and West 50th streets as flowers, balloons and candles were placed near the block where he was shot.
Police later investigated a dark SUV near West 44th Street and South Wolcott Avenue, about a mile and a half from the shooting scene. Witnesses said police chased the people in the SUV through nearby gangways. An AK-47-style rifle was seen lying in the grass near the vehicle, and a gray Hyundai was damaged after the fleeing SUV sideswiped it. The Hyundai’s owner, Anibal, said in Spanish that the people in the SUV were trying to get away from police and hit his car because they could not get through the lane. Police confirmed Tuesday night that a person of interest was in custody.
Chicago Public Schools said in a statement that district officials were saddened by the loss of the student’s life and extended condolences to his family, friends, school and community. Neighbors said the shooting rattled the area because it happened in daylight as students and workers were moving through the neighborhood. Some witnesses declined to show their faces on camera. One neighbor said she heard the shots, looked outside and saw someone lying in the street while another person came to help. She said Ramirez “had a lot of life to live.”
Area One detectives were continuing to investigate Wednesday. Police had not released the names of any suspects, had not announced charges and had not said whether Ramirez or the men in the van were intended targets. The next major step in the case is a charging decision if detectives and prosecutors link a suspect to the shooting.
Author note: Last updated May 27, 2026.