A heartbroken girl agonizingly recalled how she watched her teen boyfriend bleed to death when he was allegedly shot by bullies near his high school.
Johan Sanchez, 17, was fatally shot in the chest around 3.20pm Thursday in the 2100 block of 59th Avenue in Cicero, Illinois – about 10 miles west of Chicago.
Sanchez was killed just blocks from Morton East High School – which he attended – after dismissal. He was rushed to hospital, where he later died.
His girlfriend, Donna Medina, 17, was with Sanchez when the shooting happened and said he was being bullied.
‘Yesterday, after school, they were just going to take the bus as they usually do, but when they were there at the bus stop, there was that group of kids waiting for him,’ Medina told CBS Chicago.
She spoke in Spanish and her comments were translated by cousin Natalia Lopez.
Medina said Sanchez tried to run away. She chased after him and then heard a gunshot.
“The first [shot] was right to his chest,’ she said.
Johan Sanchez, 17, was killed Thursday after being shot in the chest – allegedly by bullies. His girlfriend Donna Medina, also 17, was with him when he died
Sanchez was at a bus stop when the bullies targeted him, according to his girlfriend. He was also shot in the ankle
Medina dropped her backpack and reached out to her wounded boyfriend, only to watch him get shot in the ankle.
She scrambled to save Sanchez and attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but found that ‘he was pale and that he wasn’t breathing.’
‘Right now, I feel heartbroken, and I’m going through something that I thought that I would never have to go through,’ Medina said.
Lopez, her cousin, said Medina ‘tried to do everything that could save him.’
Sanchez was rushed to the Loyola University Medical Center after being shot, where he later died.
His cousin was with the couple and tried to fight off the alleged bullies when the attack happened.
However, he was pistol-whipped and could not deter the fatal shooting.
To date, no details have been released about any suspects or persons of interest involved.
Medina (right) ‘tried to do everything that could save’ her boyfriend, including mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
Sanchez’s girlfriend said she was ‘heartbroken’ and ‘going through something that I thought that I would never have to go through’
Sanchez’s godfather, Julio Luna, described him as a quiet and introverted ‘really humble kid.’
‘He wasn’t really into bothering people because he didn’t want that,’ Luna told WGN-TV.
The teenager hoped to join the military and dreamed of earning enough money to support his mother.
He was focused on graduating high school, which he won’t get to do now.
‘It’s hard to lose a 17-year-old kid whose life is just barely starting,’ Luna said.
Sanchez moved to the US from Colombia about four years ago. Relatives said Sanchez had already experienced bullying at the high school.
Those concerns had been raised to authorities, according to the teen boy’s family.
The fatal shooting happened around 3.20pm on Thursday in the 2100 block of 59th Avenue in Cicero, Illinois
No reports were made to police, while the school district – J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 – has not responded to the family’s allegations.
A statement issued hours after Sanchez’s death confirmed that a student was killed after being shot blocks from Morton East High after dismissal.
The district said that ‘there are many reports circulating on social media that are inaccurate.’
An ‘active crisis team’ was made available to students and staff impacted by the alleged murder.
A $5,000 reward has been offered by the Youth Peace & Justice Foundation for any information leading to an arrest in relation to the teen’s death, per CBS Chicago.
As of Saturday evening, a GoFundMe fundraiser to support the family and raise money for Sanchez’s funeral had raised about $12,700 of its $20,000 goal.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Cicero Police Department School for comment.
