Family mourns 8-year-old boy slain in Greater Grand Crossing mass shooting: 'He was just trying to grow'
The last time Brandal Orr spoke to his 8-year-old son, Bryson, the two were looking forward to spending time together on the Fourth of July with relatives at the boy's Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood home.
Instead, Bryson and his mother would be killed that day along with another mom when several gunmen opened fire into the house, leaving two other young boys wounded and clinging to their lives.
“He was just an innocent child living life in the house,” Orr said. “I’m lost. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.”
Orr was working his overnight shift at an Amazon warehouse when one of his sons called him saying "someone just shot up the house."
"I was so frustrated that I threw my phone and cracked it, broke it all up," Orr said. "It was so devastating."
Police have so far given no motive for the shooting and said no arrests have been made.
About 6:15 a.m., officers responding to a ShotSpotter alert and 911 calls found two women, ages 42 and 24, along with the children — ranging in age from 5 to 8 — wounded in the home in the 7100 block of South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago Police Deputy Chief Don Jerome said shortly after the shooting.
Horrified witnesses in the home told officers that as many as four gunmen “shot up the place,” according to police reports obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The ShotSpotter alert detected at least 26 rounds, according to the police reports, which said shell casings were found in the street in front of the house, on the sidewalk, on the front stoop and inside the house.
Witnesses told detectives the shooters possibly left two vehicles on 72nd Street and fled after the shooting, according to the reports.
The officers provided first aid, but Bryson's mom, 45-year-old Nakeeshia Strong, was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where she died.
Another relative and the mother of the two surviving boys, Capri Edwards, 24, died at the scene, officials said.
The boys were all taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, and Bryson died there about seven hours after the attack.
Strong's 19-year-old son, Frank Mixon, told reporters that day that she was “the love of my life, for sure.”
"She worked day and night, took care of kids that weren’t hers, taking care of the kids that are hers," Mixon said.
‘A happy, loving and sweet child
Orr described his son as a "happy, loving and sweet" child who loved playing football.
"We buy him everything he asked for," Orr said. "He was a good kid, very smart."
Bryson and his father would see each other in person or over FaceTime every day, Orr said.
They always greeted each other with a special handshake: crossing fists and "colliding" their hands together, and finally both touching their hearts, saying "love you."
"He was a normal kid that liked to have fun," Orr said. "He was just trying to grow."
Orr stressed that getting justice for the slayings was important.
The shooters "came with intent to kill innocent people," Orr said. "They need to be brought in for justice."
Tougher stance on gun violence
That sentiment was shared by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who took a harder stance on gun violence Monday after more than 100 people were shot, including 19 slain, over the long holiday weekend. The mayor declared “there will be consequences” for those responsible for “wreaking havoc on my streets.”
The mayor was out of town Thursday evening, but he joined Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling on Friday to canvass the block where the Greater Grand Crossing attack occurred.
Another of the weekend's fatal shootings happened just 3 miles south, in the Chatham neighborhood, leaving a man dead and a teen wounded.
About 11:50 p.m. Sunday, two teens, 18 and 16, were arguing with someone in the 700 block of East 89th Place when the person the were arguing with opened fire, striking them both, police said.
The 18-year-old was shot twice in his chest and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he died, police said.
The 16-year-old was shot in his thighs and taken to the same hospital in fair condition, officials said.
Police had shut down the street for the investigation. Scraps of red police tape were still attached to fences and poles on both ends of the block Monday afternoon. Yellow police tape was thrown in a trash bin in a nearby alley. Spent fireworks lay on the sidewalk from the weekend's celebrations.
One neighbor said the block was usually quiet, but gunfire Sunday night woke her up. Another neighbor said it was sad to see young people the victims of gun violence.
Pastor Corey Brooks, founder of Project H.O.O.D., reached out to the Orr family and others who lost loved ones over the extended holiday weekend.
"I've contacted the families to let them know whatever we can do to help them. ... We can help them and be of assistance to them. We're more than willing to do that," Brooks said.