A 19-year-old National Guard member was one of at least 15 people killed by gun violence over the holiday weekend, according to Chicago police.
Chrys Carvajal, of Portage Park, was identified by his family as the 19-year-old who was shot in the back and abdomen in the 2200 block of North Lockwood Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Saturday in the Belmont Cragin community. He was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to police.
Carvajal had recently completed Army basic training and was waiting to be assigned to a unit with the Illinois National Guard, a spokesman confirmed.
“Although he was new to the military, he took a sacred oath to protect both our state and nation,” the Illinois National Guard said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with his loved ones after this sudden and terrible loss.”
At a news conference Sunday, Carvajal’s sister Jennifer Ramirez said he was home on leave from basic training for less than a month before he was killed leaving a house party.
“He was fighting for our country,” Ramirez said at the news conference. “He comes to Chicago, and he gets killed in the streets of Chicago.”
Ramirez said at the news conference that Carvajal, who died a week before his 20th birthday, had aspired to be a police officer since he was a young boy, and he cared deeply for his family and others.
“We have to live a whole life without my brother,” she said. “… You always see the news and think it’s going to happen to somebody else and never you.”
Carvajal was one of at least 15 people killed and 89 injured over the long holiday weekend, according to police records.
“This young man was in the military, not gang affiliated and was home on leave. He was to defend our country but gets killed from an ongoing gang war at home in Chicago,” said Ald. Gilbert Villegas, of the 36th Ward, in a social media statement.
A vigil was held Saturday night in memory of Carvajal near the site where he was killed. Chicago police said there were no witnesses and no further information. Area Five detectives are investigating.
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