March 21--A man identified by prosecutors as a Safe Passage worker was charged with shooting a 17-year-old girl Wednesday while working outside a school on the Far South Side.
Shelby Crawford, 18, who prosecutors said is on probation for a juvenile gun case, had been hired as a Safe Passage worker about two months ago, according to Cook County prosecutors and his family.
But a Chicago Public Schools spokesman said Crawford is not part of the Safe Passage program but was working as a "student support worker" monitoring the arrival and dismissal of students at Foundations College Prep.
Crawford shook his head and turned to look back at his family Friday after Judge James Brown ordered him held on $900,000 bail.
His family later said Crawford opened fire after being attacked by a group of teens while he was at his Safe Passage post. They said he was punched in the eye and robbed of his cellphone and school-issued walkie-talkie.
Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said Crawford was working as a Safe Passage worker in the 1300 block of West 111th Place about 4:15 p.m. when he got into an altercation with a group of teens. He then followed the group and opened fire, striking a 17-year-old girl in the chest with a bullet that lodged between her rib cage and lung, Scaduto said.
The judge appeared stunned, raising his eyebrows and asking, "A Safe Passage employee?"
About two hours after the shooting, officers on patrol near 69th Street and Indiana Avenue noticed a large group of young men outside a vacant, open house, according to an arrest report. The officers saw Crawford standing in a vacant lot behind the house with a gun in his hand, according to Scaduto and the arrest report.
They saw him throw the gun to the ground and walk away, grabbing the zipper area of his pants, the prosecutor said. Crawford told arresting officers he was just urinating, according to the arrest report. A blue steel .9 mm handgun loaded with five live rounds was found near a mattress in the yard, the report said.
Speaking outside court at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Crawford's aunt, Katie Arsberry, said the group of teens wanted to know his gang affiliation but that he denied any, leading a male to hit him in the eye.
"We're not validating the fact that a gun was discharged and a girl was hit," Arsberry said. "We're not in agreement with that ... but if you've got 10 people attacking you, you're going to defend yourself."
An arrest report noted that Crawford had a swollen lip, minor facial injuries and blood on his pants that he claimed came after he was beaten by a group of teens while working his Safe Passage job.
The family said Crawford's previous juvenile gun conviction occurred when he was caught at 16 along with others in a car containing a gun.
His mother, Samantha Harris, said Crawford was attending Chicago Excel Academy, an alternative school, and was on track to graduate next spring.
"He was at school, he was doing well," she said.
sschmadeke@tribune.com
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