The Simeon and Morgan Park High School basketball teams ended their game at Chicago State University with a melee between players on the court. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)
A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed after a fight broke out at the end of a high school basketball game at Chicago State University.
Tyrone Lawson was shot around 9:20 p.m. outside the gymnasium near 95th Street and King Drive, according to Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien.
Shortly before the shooting, an argument had broken out in a handshake line after the game between Simeon Career Academy and Morgan Park High School, police said. The argument spilled into the parking lot and someone pulled out a gun and shot Lawson, officials said.
Each team was held in the locker rooms longer than normal after the game as tensions ran high in the gym, witnesses said.
University police issued a message to officers, asking them to watch for a Jeep. It was pulled over east of the school and two people were taken into custody, officials said. Police said they found a gun inside the Jeep.
It was unclear what the fight was about. Nothing outside ordinary bumps and physical contact appeared to have happened during the game between the two school, which are located on Vincennes Avenue about 30 blocks apart.
An aunt told WGN-TV that Lawson was an honor student at Morgan Park High School and was six weeks away from his 18th birthday.
His mother had dropped Lawson off at the game and was waiting for him to call her back, she said.
The university released a statement Thursday morning saying it was "deeply saddened by the tragic shooting death."
“(Chicago Public Schools) periodically uses the university’s athletic facility to provide a neutral setting for student sporting events. This is the first such incident to occur on the campus of Chicago State University where CPS students have played many times over the last three years," the statement said.
"Additional security is provided by the university and all external partners during high school sporting events. Arrests have been made and university officials are awaiting the outcome of a full investigation to learn details about the shooting incident.”
Lawson, of the 11600 block of South Peoria Street, was pronounced dead at 9:59 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Contributor Mike Helfgot and Tribune reporters Peter Nickeas, Rosemary Regina Sobol and Jeremy Gorner contributed to this story.
chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @chicagobreaking
Teen killed following Simeon-Morgan Park game; 2 in custody
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Teen killed following Simeon-Morgan Park game; 2 in custody
