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After being alerted to a suspected gang member's funeral and wake taking place nearby, a suburban Chicago school district urged its parents to pick up their children from school, rather than allow them to walk home, and also canceled outdoor recess.
The Evergreen Park Elementary School District 214 issued a message to parents about the 3 p.m. Monday wake, which took place around the time of their five schools' dismissal, and 11 a.m. Tuesday funeral, Patch reported.
"You may want to make arrangements for your child to picked up at school rather than walking home that day [Monday]," the message read.
According to CBS Chicago, police also went door-to-door in the district last week, urging area parents' caution.
The concern is gang retaliation and police from Evergreen Park, Chicago and Cook County are all expected to be closely monitoring the activities, NBC Chicago reports.
"Every time we turn the news on at night we see another innocent killing of an innocent child or sometimes adult, not meant for that child or not meant for that person," district Superintendent Diane Cody told Fox Chicago. "And we want to make sure that we are protecting our kids."