Chicago shooting: Juan Salgado, 17, fatally shot in Little Village as he walked home from soccer practice, family says

CHICAGO (WLS) — A teenager was shot and killed in the city's southwest corner earlier this week, days before the start of the new school year.

He was shot while returning from football practice Monday in Little Village. ABC7 spoke with the victim's family and coach about their sudden and heartbreaking loss.

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The victim, Juan Salgado, 17, was about to start his senior year at Juarez Community Academy and become captain of the school's soccer team when he was killed, his family said.

Heartbroken hearts gathered outside the Orozco Community Academy, where Salgado's love of soccer began in elementary school.

Video recorded Monday showed the teenager on the field about an hour before leaving football practice at Harrison Park.

His family said he left to take a friend and team member, who showed up to practice sick, to his home in Little Village.

“He knew his friend didn't feel good about going home, and even though he knew he shouldn't go, he did it because he thought it was the right thing to do for his friend,” said the victim's uncle, Sabastian Salgado.

Salgado was driving around 5 p.m. in the 3800 block of West 26th Street when a truck pulled up and someone inside began shooting, Chicago police said.

Salgado was shot in the left shoulder and was taken to the hospital in normal condition, but things then took a turn for the worse. He died exactly one week after starting his senior year of high school and before becoming the captain of the football team, a team he had been playing on since his sophomore year.

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His coach, Julian Gomez, is now set to start school on Monday without his star player.

“He showed leadership,” Gomez said. “He showed the character that we needed as a captain, and it's a shame that we can't see him on the field as a team captain anymore.”

Salgado's family said the teenager also played for the Chicago Fire youth soccer club and in his short life won about 40 sports medals. A GoFundMe page has been set up.

No one is in custody in connection with the killing, Chicago police said.

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