Students who graduated this week from Tarkington Elementary returned to school Wednesday to mourn a fellow classmate.
Jorge Sosa, 14, was celebrating his 8th grade graduation and the first day of summer vacation when he went swimming with friends at North Avenue Beach. Around 4 p.m. Tuesday he disappeared under the water.
When lifeguards pulled him out about an hour later, they took turns performing CPR until paramedics arrived. He was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital in "extremely critical" condition and died later that night.
"This is a terrible tragedy that came from a day of fun," said Vincent Iturralde, principal at Tarkington School of Excellence in Chicago.
Sosa was on the school's basketball and soccer teams and recently won an award with an urban initiatives program for coaching girl's soccer. Iturralde remembered him as "a fantastic kid" who helped younger students learn the game.
"He was a good person, so it's a real shock," said one woman whose son was coached by Sosa.
It's not known what happened leading up to the incident.
"Today is a very, very tragic day, and our hearts go out to the family," Iturralde said. "They have our full sympathy."
