Teh One Who Knocks
09-27-2013, 11:27 AM
By Rosemary Regina Sobol - Chicago Tribune reporter
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Darnell D. Hamilton has big plans for college, but getting to and from high school every day has been difficult, his family says.
Since he was a freshman, gangs have been threatening him as he takes two CTA lines from his Logan Square home to Urban Prep Charter Academy on the West Side, according to his mother, LaDonna Petty. "They wait for him when he gets off the train," she said.
Finally, Hamilton, 17, got a gun from a friend and brought it to school Tuesday, according to Chicago police and his family. Someone saw the weapon and reported it to the principal, who called police.
Authorities went to the junior's locker and found a 9 mm handgun with a 4-inch barrel and a magazine with eight live rounds tucked in his school bag, police said. Hamilton explained he needed the gun for protection because street gangs had threatened to kill him, according to a police report. Police said Hamilton has no known gang affiliation.
Hamilton was charged as an adult with unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a firearm in school, both felonies. His mother watched with tearful eyes Wednesday as a judge set bail at $75,000 for her son, still dressed in his school uniform: a white buttoned-down shirt and khaki pants.
"I mean, this is just sad," Petty said outside the courtroom, accompanied by Hamilton's girlfriend. "He's probably a little embarrassed, and he knows my expectations of him and standards are high.''
She said her son has a 4.0 GPA at Urban Prep, a prestigious charter school that prides itself in getting all its seniors accepted into college. He has already been promised a scholarship by Ohio State University, she said, but recently he has been hoping to go to Duke University or Howard University to study computer engineering.
Petty said she hopes her son will be able to graduate from Urban Prep despite his arrest. "He made a bad choice and he wanted to protect himself," she said.
Urban Prep school spokesman Edward Briscoe said school officials were still deciding what action to take against Hamilton. Briscoe acknowledged some of the school's students face "safety challenges" traveling to and from the school.
"We are committed to working closely with students, parents, faculty, the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Public Schools and the community to address this challenge," school Principal Ron Bryant said in a statement.
Petty, who hopes to bail her son out of custody soon, said she is confident her son will learn from the incident.
"He said it will never happen again,'' she said.
http://i.imgur.com/4jSlg3t.gif
Darnell D. Hamilton has big plans for college, but getting to and from high school every day has been difficult, his family says.
Since he was a freshman, gangs have been threatening him as he takes two CTA lines from his Logan Square home to Urban Prep Charter Academy on the West Side, according to his mother, LaDonna Petty. "They wait for him when he gets off the train," she said.
Finally, Hamilton, 17, got a gun from a friend and brought it to school Tuesday, according to Chicago police and his family. Someone saw the weapon and reported it to the principal, who called police.
Authorities went to the junior's locker and found a 9 mm handgun with a 4-inch barrel and a magazine with eight live rounds tucked in his school bag, police said. Hamilton explained he needed the gun for protection because street gangs had threatened to kill him, according to a police report. Police said Hamilton has no known gang affiliation.
Hamilton was charged as an adult with unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a firearm in school, both felonies. His mother watched with tearful eyes Wednesday as a judge set bail at $75,000 for her son, still dressed in his school uniform: a white buttoned-down shirt and khaki pants.
"I mean, this is just sad," Petty said outside the courtroom, accompanied by Hamilton's girlfriend. "He's probably a little embarrassed, and he knows my expectations of him and standards are high.''
She said her son has a 4.0 GPA at Urban Prep, a prestigious charter school that prides itself in getting all its seniors accepted into college. He has already been promised a scholarship by Ohio State University, she said, but recently he has been hoping to go to Duke University or Howard University to study computer engineering.
Petty said she hopes her son will be able to graduate from Urban Prep despite his arrest. "He made a bad choice and he wanted to protect himself," she said.
Urban Prep school spokesman Edward Briscoe said school officials were still deciding what action to take against Hamilton. Briscoe acknowledged some of the school's students face "safety challenges" traveling to and from the school.
"We are committed to working closely with students, parents, faculty, the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Public Schools and the community to address this challenge," school Principal Ron Bryant said in a statement.
Petty, who hopes to bail her son out of custody soon, said she is confident her son will learn from the incident.
"He said it will never happen again,'' she said.