A 17-year-old Oak Park high school student was shot Friday while attending a house party in Austin.
According to Chicago police, Jerel Smith, 17, of the 5400 block of West Augusta Boulevard in Oak Park, was shot and several others wounded near Long Avenue and Iowa Street after a man fired a shotgun at a group of people leaving a party about 12:15 a.m.
Smith attended Oak Park and River Forest High School.
A spokesperson for the school on Monday said the school’s crisis team met Monday morning and that all staff were advised to send any students who need assistance to counseling services.
School officials were working Monday to squelch rumors that the youth, a south Oak Park resident, had been killed in the shooting.
The spokesperson said there have been “extensive and inaccurate rumors among our students and staff.” That rumor reportedly began circulated Saturday during a football game of the school’s Huskie football team.
Chicago police confirmed that at least one Oak Park boy was in “serious condition” at the time of his transport to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood.
The school said two OPRF students had been injured. One was treated and released, and the other is expected to be discharged soon and make a full recovery.
The high school has directed callers to its website, www.oprfhs.org, for any updates on the situation.
