Chi-Town Daily News
By Julie Segraves
Another son of Rogers Park was lost on March 28 in a senseless murder on the 1500 block of Fargo Avenue. The life of Clyde Flowers was cut short when he was shot in the back by an unknown assailant.
“He was really good,” his young cousin said as she sat in front of the candles which had been placed where he had fallen. She and her friends picked up the card with his name on it and together decided what to write to the young man they would never see again.
They had gathered for a prayer circle organized by Ceasefire in response to the shooting. Slowly more family members and friends arrived each stopping, signing the card, and staring blankly in disbelief that Clive, as he was known, was gone.
Outside a third floor apartment, a neighbor hung a peace sign in response to shooting death.
Directly above the site of Flower’s death, Carla M. Carlson had hung a peace sign, below it the word “please”. Carla was clearly disturbed by the incident. “He laid there for one and a half to two hours” after the fire department left “with the yellow tape around him.” She didn’t understand why he was left alone for so long.
Friends and relatives said he was with his girlfriend and another friend. When they saw the offender approaching, they scattered in different directions. His cousin said that Flowers was cornered by the shooter. Five shots were fired and he was hit by one.
Police News Affairs Officer Taylor confirmed that on the night of March 28 Flowers was shot in the back by an unknown male Hispanic, aged 16 to 17.
His cousin pointed out to her friends where he fell as her young friends, noticing the blood still on the sidewalk where the candles were, asked “is this where his heart was?”
His friends had lit the candles one by one and each signed the card and left the pens leaning on the SOX hat they had placed on the scene.
Shrine erected in the memory of Clyde Flowers, gunned down on March 28th in Rogers Park.
Initially a gathering of neighbors, politicians, community leaders, and police, as the prayer circle began they were joined by family members and his friends, some of them gang kids, and the circle grew larger.
When the circle was complete, there were nearly forty people standing together, holding hands and praying for the young man that would be missed by so many.
For some, it was too much. They broke away and went back to the scene sobbing with grief. Others quickly joined them to provide comfort and support. One young boy sat before the shrine just staring, too overcome to speak.
After the prayers, the group walked around the block, denouncing the violence. The numbers wrapped around the corner.
They gathered again as one by one, Commander Rottner (24th District), Alderman Moore (49th Ward) and others spoke to the family, friends, neighbors and community members about the tragedy of another life lost and the wish that it would be the last. Commander Rottner urged people to get involved. He said, “There are only so many of us, we need the help of the community to stop the violence.”
I asked an older Hispanic woman who had joined with the family how she thought the community could stop this. She said simply, “You can’t.”
Though the Chicago Police maintain that he was suspected to be a Gangster Disciple, his classmates from Sullivan High School disagree.
“Clive wasn’t in a gang”, Sam Gaddy said. “That’s why no one believed he got killed.”
“I still don’t believe he’s gone”, said Michael Watson. “Nobody can understand it.”
They described Flowers as a good person well liked by everyone. The only reason Mike could think that he was killed was because “he’s black and there’s Mexicans over there.” He looked to Sam for confirmation, “That’s all.”
Both had the same look of disbelief and emptiness as those attending the prayer circle, and their friend has been dead for a week.
Today,the shrine is gone. The spot where Clyde Flowers fell is devoid of any indication that he lived or that he died. But to those who knew him and loved him, he will never be forgotten and he will be sorely missed.
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