'I'm fighting with them': Chicago father who lost son to gun violence wants to helps others with the same pain
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Four days after three Chicago brothers were shot, family and friends are trying to track down the gunman, offering a big reward and passing out flyers.
Among them, a Chatham father who lost his son to gun violence. CBS 2's Shardaa Gray caught up with him and the push to find his son's killer.
"That was his 16th birthday, I remember now."
Memories quilted on a blanket. that Rodney White-El will cherish.
"This was in front of the steakhouse. That's what he liked, that's what he liked. He was well dressed. He was always into dressing himself."
His son, Khalil White-El, would have been 19 years old Wednesday. He was shot and killed August 23rd in broad daylight in an alley near 87th and Wabash in the Chatham neighborhood.
White-El said his son's birthday is bittersweet.
"Them 18 years, I'm appreciative of that. I'm thankful I was able to be his father for that amount of time," White-El said.
On Tuesday, White-EL said he wanted to help members of St. Sabina pass out flyers with for three brothers who were shot in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood over the weekend.
"I didn't want to just be in the house cooped up, I wanted to be with my brothers and sisters and letting it be known I'm fighting with them," he said.
White-El said his son, Khalil, just started a job at Buddy Bear Bear Car Wash through St. Sabina's Strong Future Program. He had plans of moving him out of Chicago and starting a new life in Arizona, but he was shot and killed near 87th and Wabash on his day off.
White-El graduated from Perspective High School of Technology this past spring with dreams and goals of starting his own business.
"Right before he got killed, he told me he wanted to start his own studio and podcast," White-El said, adding that it's been more than two months since his son was killed.
Flash back to a few days after his death, outside of St. Sabina, balloons released into the air and tears from his mother. White-El says detectives told him they only have small leads in the case.
"There's a lot of people who are starting come forth and give their statements. There's cameras out there and everything. So it's coming together."
White-El said he's starting a foundation called Khalil's Love Foundation.