Alyssa's Story
Growing up as a kid, At the age of 4, the first thing I can remember my mom and dad would argue and then fight, Seeing my mom fight to have my dad stop what he was doing, always scared me and my little brother (Name withdrawn). That’s why till this day me and (Name withdrawn) are so close to each other. We went through so much to get our happiness and still do till this day.
One day on Jan 23, 2018 at 6:18 P.M., I was putting my little sister to sleep because she was teething. My other younger two sisters were in my parents room watching their tablets and my two younger brothers were in their room, My parents told my brother (Name withdrawn) to go get something from the Van. I heard the door open but I didn’t hear him come back inside. I went by the kitchen cause my sister had just fallen asleep. I looked at my phone and it was 6:17PM.
Then BOOM, BOOM,BOOM,BOOM,BOOM, BOOM.
Six shots rang out.
I quickly check up on my sisters and they were fine, but then i panicked because I thought my brother was still out there!!
But once i saw him quickly turn off the lights, that’s when i calmed down a little but but then me and (Name withdrawn) looked out the window. We didn’t see anything so we just thought, there were just people being jerks with playing with guns. But we still kept looking out the window and then we just saw a car slowly driving, very slow, but i think much of it but when me and (Name withdrawn) look at our first window that’s when we notice it stop and the passenger door was wide open.
Seconds later, Cops came and took off running everywhere.
To the car we saw, to the front of my lawn, to the alley of West park academy and then the 3 way circle, then firefighters, the ambulances came then i heard like two helicopters. That night I couldn’t sleep just thinking about what I saw.
Hearing those gunshots going on a repeat in my mind, throughout the night i was on my phone, on snapchat, instagram or just watching youtube videos just to get my mind from thinking what had happened that night.
It’s was around 4 in the morning that I decide to pop up the news, and of course they were talking about Donald Trump, then the shootings that happen in Chicago a normal daily thing to hear but then the exact words that I heard “18 year old known as (Name withdrawn) was shot and killed at (Name withdrawn) Street around 7:30 p.m last night” Right outside my house!!
That’s when I realized that I had witnessed somebody get shot and even killed. The next day, the FEAR of going to school was insane. Every car that sped by, I would get so scared my stomach would hurt knowing that I had to walk to school. I still couldn’t sleep, just thinking of that night. The next night was the same thing. I never knew how someone's death could make me and my family go crazy…. I have have been so scared just walking to school. I even sometimes felt like skipping school cause I was so worried something was going to happen. Every time I go outside, I’m scared.
Few days past…. My mom had an event that week and (Name withdrawn),s Godmother told us we can go to (Name withdrawn)’s funeral on Sunday from 4-9pm. At first I didn’t want to go, so It was going to be my mom and step-dad, but then my brother and I decided to go. Few hours later….When we got there, the same place where my grandmother had her funeral was the same place (Name withdrawn) had his….
We walk in. When they were giving prayers to (Name withdrawn) but I wasn’t listening. I just kept looking at the slideshow of (Name withdrawn). He looked so happy with his friends. He was so loved. He had a HEART. (Name withdrawn) reminded me of my own brother. When we were in line to see (Name withdrawn)’s casket, seeing his mother broke my heart. She kept telling him to “Please Wake Up”, “Let’s leave already” “What did they do to you?” “Papa Ciro, Wake Up”, all in Spanish, his mom looked like she was going to die in pain because it hurt her so much. When we got to go see (Name withdrawn), he looked different. His face looked different and then his little sister came up and asked me: “Is he sleeping?” I told her, “yes he is”. For some reason when I saw (Name withdrawn), I was thinking it was my OWN Brother. I went down into tears, knowing how strong the family is cause I wouldn’t NEVER have the Strength to be able to see my brother in that casket, it would hurt my soul… My mom I and Hugged (Name withdrawn)’s mom, I look back and (Name withdrawn) and I was thinking, “you were just here on Monday!”
My last words to (Name withdrawn) were the same to grandma, “I won’t stop till I get to the top”. I touched his head, and then his hand, that’s when I knew his life was cut short for the violence of Chicago. His LIFE was ended by 6 bullets hitting him, 2 in the forehead, 1 in the left jawline, 3 3 in the chest. Every day till this day, I’m reliving it. When I get my jacket to to to school, I look out the window and still hear those gunshots running in my head, knowing that those shots were the ones that killed (Name withdrawn), (Name withdrawn) was shot and killed on January 23, 2018 at 7:20 p.m. by local gang members that didn’t have the heart and killed him thinking (Name withdrawn) was gang member when he had NOTHING to do with it.
Another Experience
I remember ….Me and my brother were walking home from school, we lived pretty far, so we had to walk a lot...but never did I ever think we would ever walk in the middle of a drive by shooting. In bright daylight…. We were walking home from school with a friend...After that we started walking down, joking around here and there like always and we were a block away from crossing a big street that all I see is a a car with fast speed, racing down and
BOOM! This person started shooting like crazy, so much that I couldn’t even count. My brother pushed me back, we were ducking while running, fearing we might get shot…..
This car was shooting at another car, I was seeing people running, hiding behind the newsstands, behind the poles, I even saw a mother took off with both of her kids in her hands…. My heart was like in my throat, felt like it was going to pop out of my chest, from being so scared. The second the light turned red, me and my brother took off running and I look back and all I see is the driver side door window cracked with bullet holes…. When we go to the other side there was a police car there and people started running to him and told them a lady was shot and she’s not responding. The police officer took off running.
Me and my brother were in shock and also very shaken from it. But when we sped up walking… There was an alley and all I see is a guy on the floor by the trash can and there was a guy just looking down on him, the guy on the floor looked like he was getting beat up because he was wearing a white shirt and it was red from all all the blood….The guy that was looking down on him saw me and my brother and we took off running...Again. When we got down the block, we stopped, looked back and we see the guy just looking down at us. By the entrance of the alley…
Once we got home we old our mom about the shooting. My mom was in shock but all she told us was that we need to be more careful on the streets now….
Till this day, I know I think a shooting can happen in daylight.
That danger can hit us in a matter of seconds..
It’s crazy how 1 bullet can cause a life to leave this world and leave pain for other family members. Mothers who bury their kids, How can you just sit and hide?
CHANGE can happen, if you can take a Stand, Sand up…., Just Stand Up and be the voice for young kids that lost their lives from the shootings of Chicago