Soldier On Leave Dies In Crossfire

By Anthonia Akitunde in News on Jul 12, 2009 8:30PM

A soldier was killed Thursday evening after getting food at a restaurant with his cousin, the Sun-Times reports. Simeon Sanders, 21, was shot while crossing the street to avoid men arguing on the sidewalk in the south suburb of Harvey. Sanders was visiting his family during his furlough. Harvey police are currently investigating the incident, according to the Sun-Times. Funeral arrangements are to be determined.

Shannon Sanders, the victim's mother, said she had misgivings about her son joining the Army but knew he wouldn't change his mind, she told the Sun-Times. The youngest of eight children, he followed his sister into the army while studying engineering at Tennessee State University, she said. He continued studying engineering while in the Army and had finished training in Washington state, the report said. Sanders was going to continue on to Fort Bragg, N.C. with the possibility of being transferred to Korea. Sadly the fate his mother had worried would find him in combat happened at home.

Sanders' mother and father were in Mississippi visiting family and were going to return to Harvey the next day. His mother said she had spoken to him on the phone earlier that day. "They happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," she told the Sun-Times. [Sun-Times]