Community mourns students killed outside Benito Juarez high school, calls on officials to address violence in schools

Community members gathered in Pilsen Sunday night to grapple with the Benito Juarez Community Academy shooting that left two teens dead and two more injured on Friday.

More than 50 people mourned the deaths of Brandon Perez, 15, and Nathan Billegas, 14.

They aired their thoughts and feelings in Spanish and English during an open discussion at the neighborhood’s Lincoln United Methodist Church.

”Our hearts are broken for what happened,” pastor Emma Lozano said, noting in her opening prayer that the students were gunned down just outside the school building’s door after dismissal.

Parents and young people shared fear, pain and frustration as they spoke.

Many fought tears and highlighted pervasive violence, hope for peace and a burning desire to build change and better protect Pilsen’s children.

Some speakers called for a pause in classes, clearer safety plans or more activities for young people. Others demanded meetings with the mayor, governor and Chicago Public Schools leaders to respond to violence throughout schools.

They were joined by Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, Illinois Sen. Javier Loera Cervantes, 1st, as well as representatives of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County and CPS.

”I’m tired of seeing kids die to senseless gun violence that we can easily prevent,” 21-year-old violence prevention organizer William Guerrero said.

Network 15 Chief of Schools Michael Boraz shared CPS’s plans to support students and staff in the coming week with the crowd. The school will remain open, but absences will be excused if parents call the school, he said.

”There’s many students who the best place for them to be this week is at school,” Boraz said.

Juan Carlos Padilla waited for his son to exit the school after the shooting Friday, feeling lucky when his child walked out unharmed, he told the crowd.

”I feel so incompetent that I can’t do something,” Padilla said.

He called on politicians and parents to set up systems that would allow for people to volunteer to protect the school.

”Because that could’ve been my son,” he said.

Two others shot included a 15-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy. Brandon was a student at Juarez, while Nathan was a student at Chicago Bulls College Prep, police said. The surviving girl attends Juarez and the surviving boy is a student at Noble UIC College Prep, according to police.

[ ‘I’m just thinking about her, hoping that she’s OK.’ ]

A GoFundMe set up to help defray the costs of the two boys’ funerals late Saturday had raised over $6,000 by Sunday evening.

”Nathan was a very intelligent, outgoing and kindhearted young boy,” his sister wrote on the fundraiser. “You knew he would go out of his way for anybody if they needed it. He had the biggest heart.”

Nathan’s sister called Brandon “outgoing, lovable, smart.”

”He was caring, polite, and a gentleman. They both had their whole futures ahead of them,” she wrote.

Nathan’s mother, Mayra Tapia, confirmed the GoFundMe.

”I just want to make sure that whoever killed him gets caught,” Tapia said Saturday.

There are no suspects in custody, police said Sunday night.

Detectives are continuing to investigate, and CPS officials said their school system is cooperating with police to help find the shooter.

Afternoon Briefing

Daily

Chicago Tribune editors’ top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon.

Police shared an image Saturday of a person they are seeking for questioning that was captured with surveillance footage near the scene of the shooting.

Chris Patterson, assistant secretary of firearm violence prevention at the Illinois Department of Human Services, said state government will continue to work with anti-violence community groups in Pilsen.

”We understand that schools are not the safe space they should be, but neither are our communities or our cities,” Patterson said.

The healing process is just beginning, said youth pastor Tanya Lozano, a former Juarez student who is Emma Lozano’s daughter.

”It’s going to be a while before the kids I believe feel safe going back to school,” Tanya Lozano said.

Leaders must make the school safer for students, but violence also has complex roots, she said.

”This is not a coincidental thing that happened. It’s a culmination of greater issues,” Tanya Lozano said.