ETHS is providing an opportunity for student support today, September 23, 2012, at Evanston Township High School in Bacon Cafeteria from 3:00pm –4:00pm. Grief counselors will be on site to provide support to ETHS students who were close friends or those students directly affected by Dajae's death. Students should enter through Door #31.

Next time the Police shut down a major street here in Evanston please think about those driving home on it and do not know which way to go to get around their blockade.
I ended up cutting thru alleys and thru neighborhoods I am worried about being in in the daytime---let alone when the Police are looking for a killer!

Michael, you are an idiot. Lets hope that nothing like this ever happens in your family, because you will be the first one screaming for the the city to be shut down so that the killer can be brought to justice. You must be new to Evanston, to be so inconvenienced by a street closing. just drive north or south to the next one and you will be on your way. Perhaps you stay insulated in your little corner and never explore the city because of stereotypes.

They say a young man that been shot!
They also stated this young man was not the intended target.
Well, okay, who and what was the target then?
Was it a known gang member next to this young man that should have been the target?
What is the real story here?
Dajae Coleman was to call his father for a ride home.
Why didn't he honor his fathers wishes to call for the ride?
Or was Dajae wishing to hide his friends from his father?
What is the real story here?

This tragedy in our community must be condemned in the strongest terms. Wait, there are no terms strong enough to condemn this horrid act. The entire community should turn out for the hearing when these callous,evil people are brought to justice.

How did this happen? People with a lack of regard for life acted like children - armed children. But one must ask: Where were the adults?

Where were the adults at whose houses the party took place?

Where were the adults who allowed a 14 year old child to attend a party at a presumably unsupervised home?

Where were the adults who allowed a 14 year old child to attend a party where known gang members were present?

A ride home would not reduce the risk inherent in allowing a child to attend an unsupervised party attended by known gang members. Offering a ride home implies the adults knew the child was attending this party. What were they thinking?

This tragedy could have been prevented if only someone had been watching the store.

As a mom of 2 over 18 young adults, I don't think there "is a story here". I think Dajae just decided to walk home with his pals from the party he was attending. Kids don't think the way adults do. They would much rather be with their friends than with their parents and even at 13/14 just starting to make their own decisions. And even if "the target should? have been a gang member standing next to him", a gang member is still someone's son, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend. My heart goes out to Dajae's family and they are all in my thoughts and prayers.
As far as roadblocks after a shooting, REALLY? C'mon now. You worry about going thru alleys in the daytime, then you must have known where you were and certainly could have asked a police officer how to get home. I am sure there were plenty to ask! End up on any major street in Evanston and there is a gas station where you could have received directions.

I am a very strong and loyal supporter of the Evanston Police Department. Our guys in blue does a good job at protecting our community. I have no doubt that they will solve this horrendous crime. Our township will never become anything like that of Chicago. The gangs can try to do their thing in our town, but I have faith and belief that the gangs will never take over. My prayers and thoughts are with Dajae's loving family and with our community as a whole.

The "real" story here is the fact that we need to get guns off the street and out of the hands of those who only want to use them to harm other people. We have lost so many young people to gun violence in both Chicago and Evanston and the problem is only growing. This a horrible tragedy, regardless of whether or not there was an "intended target." Kids walking home from a party should be safe in our neighborhoods. Adults, NU students, and teens getting on and off the el, going to and from movies/restaurants in downtown Evanston, and walking home at night should not have to worry about whether or not they will survive another day.
My heart goes out to Dajae's family and friends.

Guns don't shoot by themselves. People are the issue; people not minding their children and/ or enabling thugs to be in their midst. Low lifes don't need guns to do their deeds. The code of silence re: gang/thug activity needs to end. We need not speculate on which communities are suffering the most with this problem. It is obvious with regular news reports. While Dajae was not in a gang..it is not a stretch to think, that some loser gang member or lowlife at the party, filled w/ envy, decided to pull a power play on Dajae b/c he represented everything that lowlife will never be-a success. Dajae by all accounts was a success in his short life. Anyone who has information that could lead to an arrest of Dajae's murderer, must come forward. A culture of silence has yielded a bloodbath on the south side. South siders are bowed by the thugs. Will Evanstonians be bowed by the thug culture too...or will you be a model for Chicago. I'm sorry, but the police cannot solve this problem alone. It takes the will of the community. You must Stand up and Stop it now!