Crime & Safety
Niles North Teen Stabbed, Hospitalized Following Rumble at Park
Students from Niles North, Niles West and Mather High School met to fight at Emerson Park in Skokie on Friday. One student was stabbed and hospitalized as a result, police said.
A 17-year-old Niles North teen was stabbed and hospitalized following a fight in Skokie on Friday. The skirmish involved students from Niles North, Niles West and Mather High School in Chicago.
Police were dispatched to Emerson Park, 9350 Lawler Ave., around 10:30 p.m. after a caller stated that about “20 to 30 people [were] fighting in the park,” according to the report.
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When police arrived, however, there were no subjects at the park but multiple coats and cell phones could be seen near a park bench. Shortly after canvassing the area, officers received a call from Skokie Hospital about a patient who was brought to the emergency room with a stab wound to his mid-section, the report stated.
Detectives investigated and through various interviews realized that students from Mather High School in Chicago, Niles North and Niles West High School, gathered at Emerson Park around 10:15 p.m. to watch a fight between a North student and a Mather student.
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The fight occurred on the basketball court and was only supposed to be between the two students, the report said. However, as the fight ensued, others jumped in. The fight stopped when one student realized a friend had been stabbed in his mid-section with “an unknown sharp object,” police stated.
The stabbed student was taken to Skokie Hospital and later Evanston Hospital for further treatment. Emergency room staff told police that the student’s liver had been lacerated, the police report stated.
The fight was originally supposed to be held at Hamlin Park, but students became deterred after seeing officers patrolling the park per routine. The teenagers decided to take the skirmish to Emerson Park, the police report stated. The entire incident began over a Mather student “disrespecting” a North student’s brother, according to the report.
Because all those involved were under the age of 18, Skokie Patch is not publishing any names. No further information is available at this time.
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