On Friday, June 21, 2024, 16-year-old Benicio Benny Gomez was shot and killed near North Rockwell Street and West Hollywood Avenue in the Budlong Woods area of Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood. Gomez and two other 16-year-old boys were entering a vehicle about 6:57 p.m. when gunfire came from a black SUV that fled the scene. Gomez was struck in the back and taken to St. Francis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

One of the other teens was shot in the shoulder and taken to St. Francis in serious condition; the third was shot in the knee and taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in fair condition. Area Three detectives are investigating and no one is in custody. Gomez, a student at Amundsen High School, is survived by parents Luis and Guadalupe Gomez and his sister Elizabeth Gomez; school counselors were made available and a GoFundMe for funeral expenses had raised over $16,000 toward a $20,000 goal.

Did anyone in the area see the black SUV or have information about that evening?