A teenage girl was shot to death in a suburban Chicago apartment building, and the gunman remains at large – despite police assurances that the public is not in danger.
Lily Bova, 16, was at home in the Salem Walk Apartments in unincorporated Northbrook when she was fatally shot around 11am Saturday.
The teen was home with her older sister, who discovered her with a gunshot wound and called police., WGN 9 reported.
Bova was transported to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital where she was tragically pronounced dead, the outlet reported.
As police continue to investigate the incident, no details have been released about the suspected gunman.
On Monday, the sheriff’s office said the incident was isolated and there is no continued threat to community, according to a statement to the Daily Mail.
‘While we cannot share further details at this time, this was an isolated incident and does not appear to pose a risk to the general public,’ the sheriff’s office said.
Police urged anyone with information to come forward as they continue to search for a person of interest.
Lily Bova, 16, was at home at the Salem Walk Apartments in unincorporated Northbrook when she was fatally shot at around 11am on Saturday morning
The teen, pictured above with her mother Christie, was transported to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital where she was tragically pronounced dead
Bova, seen above with her siblings, had been at home with her older sister, who called the police and found her sister with a gunshot wound
Sian Jung, 15, heard the loud echo of a gunshot on the fateful morning and mistaken the noise for fireworks, until she discovered that her classmate had been gunned down.
‘It was shocking that it was near us,’ Jung, also a high school sophomore at Glenbrook South, told the Chicago Tribune. ‘It’s scary.’
Glenbrook South High School Principal Barbara Georges said in a message to students on Sunday afternoon that Bova was ‘kind-hearted and optimistic.’
‘Though Lilly was a quiet spirit, her teachers and those who knew her best said she loved deeply and was positive and mature beyond her years,’ the message added, per the outlet.
Students returned to the classroom mourning their classmate and friend, as student Emmett Kessler told ABC 7: ‘You can tell the energy was down. A ton of the school knows her; she was a good person.’
Samuel Thompson, a friend of the teenager, told Fox News that Bova was a ‘great person’ who ‘always had a smile on her face.’
Laith Bardic, also a friend of Bova’s, told the outlet: ‘Honestly, [she was] just a really good, kindhearted person. You hate to see it in the community because it’s a really good area, everyone knows each other and everyone’s really close.’
Bova’s father, Anthony Bova, shared his last text messages with his daughter on Facebook as well as a photo of a bracelet made from one of Bova’s t-shirts.
Bova’s father, Anthony Bova, said: ‘I never thought she would leave me this soon’
The teen’s father described Bova as ‘oozing with talent, oozing with good spirits’ and said: ‘She was going to do whatever she wanted in this world’
Bova’s mother, Christie Marie, said: ‘This pain will never go away it will never feel real. You were glued to my side and I will forever keep you there. Justice is coming bell. Justice is coming my sweet girl. I love you’
‘Lilly’s friends ripped up a piece of her shirt and we all have remembrance bracelets,’ he wrote. ‘We must control these guns!’
‘I never thought she would leave me this soon,’ he told WGN 9. ‘She’s an instant angel. The children’s stepfather, Oscar, ran in the room. I’ll never forget this moment. He said, “get up, Lilly’s been shot.”‘
The teen’s father described her as ‘oozing with talent, oozing with good spirits’ and said: ‘She was going to do whatever she wanted in this world.’
‘She was passionate about people, she was going to make a difference in this world through teaching or nursing,’ he continued. ‘I just pray to the world that nothing like this ever happens ever again to anyone else.’
Bova’s mother, Christie Marie, wrote on Facebook: ‘This pain will never go away it will never feel real. You were glued to my side and I will forever keep you there. Justice is coming bell. Justice is coming my sweet girl. I love you.’
Her cousin, Gabriella Cruz, told NBC Chicago: ‘No matter what life threw at her, she always had a positive outlook, and that is something that impacted me so much.’
‘I have to make a change because the kind of person she was, was something that I don’t see every day in my life, and I’m so grateful that she was in my family,’ Cruz continued.
Sean Hanna, Bova’s cousin, said in a post that the teenager was taken ‘from this world so abruptly and unnecessarily.’
Glenbrook South High School Principal Barbara Georges said in a message to students on Sunday afternoon, obtained by the outlet, that Bova was ‘kind-hearted and optimistic’
On Monday, the sheriff’s office said the incident was isolated and there is no continued threat to community
Samuel Thompson, a friend of the teenager, said that Bova was a ‘great person’ who ‘always had a smile on her face’
‘None of us know what we can do because there’s nothing that can be done to undo what’s already been done,’ he wrote.
A GoFundMe was created to help with Bova’s memorial service and help her family. As of Tuesday, the page had raised over $13,900 in donations.
Bova’s funeral service will take place on April 9, according to the fundraiser.
