Philip Rega’s sons have mental disabilities and are nonverbal, so he doesn’t leave them alone for very long.
Every weekday morning, Rega is by their side while they wait for a bus that takes his sons to school. On Wednesday, they were at the bus stop in front of their Back of the Yards home when three people approached and started yelling gang slogans.
Rega said he was about to dial 911 when gunfire erupted — nearly 40 rounds by the police count.
His older son Jesus Rega, 21, was hit three times, including once in his head. The elder Rega and his other son, 15, were not hurt.
Jesus Rega was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, where Rega said his son underwent surgery.
“Right now he’s alive and well, thank God,” he said. “But he’s still not out of the woods. He’s gonna be in the hospital for at least a few more weeks. He was the unlucky one this morning.”
Chicago Police Cmdr. Don Jerome told reporters that the gang members walked up to Rega and his sons in the 4700 block of South Wolcott Avenue around 6:40 a.m. “Because they shouted out gang slogans [we believe] that’s an effort to identify if the victims in this case were in fact gang members themselves, which they were not,” he said.
Still, the gang members opened fire. The city’s gunshot detection system registered 39 rounds, and multiple shell casings were found at the scene, Jerome said. Some of the bullets hit homes along the block. The suspects ran north, and no arrests have been reported.
“It’s terribly brazen,” he said. “No one should be shot, let alone shot while standing [and] waiting for a school bus. No father should see his children shot like this.”
Rega said Jesus likes to stay inside and spend time watching videos on YouTube. His favorites are wrestling videos, and he loves the “Shrek” movie. “He doesn’t really go anywhere, except with us, his parents,” he said.
Jesus and his brother were on their way to Martin Luther King College Prep Wednesday morning.
Rega said he has lived in the neighborhood for the last 15 years and knows it has seen its share of gun violence, but hadn’t experienced it himself until Wednesday’s attack.
“It happens all the time in this neighborhood, but not on this block in particular,” he said.
The same gang is believed responsible for a shooting hours later in the 4300 block of South Wood Street that targeted an off-duty cop who investigators believe was also mistakenly targeted as a rival. Jerome said it didn’t appear the same shooters were involved in that attack.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, whose 15th Ward includes the Rega’s neighborhood, blamed the attack on gang members who “felt it was their right to confront people they don’t recognize and shoot at them with impunity.”
“The community needs to step up. People need to say enough,” he said. “And they need to come forward, not only to bring the shooters to justice, but to put an end to this nonsense in our neighborhoods.”
Jerome said anyone with information about the shooting can call Area 1 detectives at (312) 747-8380.
