Man fatally shot on block CPS designated as ‘Safe Passage’ route

By Mitch Dudek, Chicago Sun-Times
A man was shot and killed Saturday along a block that Chicago Public Schools designated as part of a “Safe Passage” route for school children.
Ralph McNeal, 54, was killed about 6:17 p.m. on the 2900 block of South State Street, which was designated the previous day by CPS as a “Safe Passage” route for students walking to Drake Elementary School, about four blocks from where the shooting occurred. The “Safe Passage” routes are marked with yellow signs and will be lined with safety workers in yellow vests when schools open Aug.
26.
The new routes, which were announced Friday, build on an existing program and follow concerns for children affected by massive school closings who will be walking unfamiliar sidewalks, and possibly crossing gang lines, to get to their new schools.
The man was killed just outside the Dearborn Homes, a Chicago Housing Authority public housing complex.
Another man also was wounded in the shooting. A police spokesman said no one was in custody for the shooting as of 3:15 p.m.