South Chicago Robs Another Life

This story is a real Debbie Downer. If you're still riding the wave of elation from Will and Kate's nuptials this morning and don't want to be bothered with some bad news from the bad news blog, then I suggest turning a blind eye to the following story.

South Chicago is a rough place. I was in the city a month ago, and despite the fact my only interaction with the city's lower-half was venturing south for a Blackhawks game, I've read the horror stories and heard some first-hand from residents of the area.

Southie is littered with gangs and violence, metal detectors in schools and police up to their knees in shit.

A cab driver really brought me back-down to earth on a drunken night in Chi-town when he pointed out 8 police officers had lost there lives since the new year. It was mid March. That statistic is horrifying. Remember a few months back when that Toronto policemen was killed by a snowplow and every paper, periodical and news outlet did a story on officers killed in the line of duty?

Well there have been as many in 3 months in south Chicago as there has been in 3 decades in the Greater Toronto Area.

Hopefully this adds a little context to the following story, which features a young soccer prodigy and a life taken too early.

Two nights ago, Kabiru Adenwunmi and friends were walking to a local convenience store in the 800 block of East 82nd Street while celebrating the Bulls game 5 victory against the Pacers. Kabiru, 16, a high school sophomore who had been living in Chicago for a year, was gunned-down as his friends watched in a likely case of mistaken identities. Adenwunmi died from his injuries.

Kabiru moved to south Chicago a year ago from Nigeria to follow his dream of being a professional footballer. He played for a youth development academy run by the MLS's Chicago Fire and was on the radar of dozens of Division 1 NCAA programs.

By all accounts he was a nice, timid individual who had absolutely no allegiances to any gangs. He and his friends were simply going to the store to buy some candy following a series win by his adopted team.

My apologies if this story has more or less ruined your morning in the same fashion that it has mine, but the point is to remind everybody of just how safe Toronto is and how lucky many of us are. If you're a fellow Torontonian like myself, or a European I met on my travels, I encourage you to make the most of your day in realization of just how precious life is.

Thanks for reading - enjoy your days.

Here's more in depth coverage from the Chicago Tribune.