Basketball coach, violence interrupter shot outside St. Sabina Church described as ‘walking miracle’

Gentry Hunt stared at the sky while first responders stanched the bleeding from his gunshot wound. Moments earlier, he was shot when gunfire broke out Sunday afternoon near St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham.

One thought ran through his mind: “Thank God.”

“I could’ve died instantly without an opportunity to utter words or prayers,” Hunt said. “God allowed me to keep my life and also keep me physically intact in every single way.”

Hunt, 30, and two other men, 33 and 38, were shot at about 4 p.m. following an argument at a basketball tournament at St. Sabina's gym, according to Chicago police. The men were shot outside St. Sabina. Hunt said he was not involved in the argument.

Hunt was shot in his shoulder and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was treated and released a few hours later.

The conditions of the 33-year-old man, hit in his foot, and the 38-year-old man, shot in his hip, had been stabilized at hospitals.

“Doctors told me for the most part I’m a walking miracle,” Hunt said. “It went in below my shoulder blade, but the exit wound was a lot higher anatomically, right below my collarbone.”

The bullet marginally grazed Hunt’s lung but didn’t strike any major arteries or cause broken bones or nerve damage.

“There is no perfect way to be shot, but it was the perfect spot where I could’ve been shot,” Hunt said.

Doctors project Hunt should be fully recovered within three weeks, though he is unsure when he’ll be able to resume playing basketball.

Hunt had just arrived with a friend at St. Sabina for a one-on-one basketball tournament when they saw a large group spill from the gym onto the street.

As he walked toward the gym, Hunt saw someone holding a gun out of the corner of his eye right before the first two shots were fired.

“I was so close to the gun, I could’ve reached out and grabbed his arm without moving,” Hunt said. “I got to see the chamber even fire.”

Hunt and his friend then tried to make it to their vehicle to get away before being separated once Hunt realized it was too dangerous to try to get into the car.

After checking to make sure his friend was OK from a distance, Hunt sprinted down Racine Avenue to try to get “as far away from the shooter as possible.”

“I see people moving rapidly, and I see people moving more slowly. So in my brain, the person moving more slowly is probably the shooter because he’s looking for a certain target,” Hunt said.

Hunt then felt the bullet rip through his shoulder when he dashed left into a courtyard and wedged himself next to an open fence before kneeling down between two duplexes as gunfire continued to ring out in the distance. That’s when he noticed blood forming around his shoulder area.

After a good Samaritan who lived at one of the duplexes let Hunt inside and gave him a towel for his wound, he reconnected with his friend, who flagged down responding officers speeding toward the scene.

“I felt calm even though I was in a very dangerous situation,” Hunt said. “Not once did I feel like my life was going to end.”

The full effect of the shooting didn’t strike Hunt until he got into a car full of his friends who were waiting for his release Sunday night.

“In that moment, I don't know if I was more emotional over the fact that I had been shot or over the fact that my friends waited six hours in a cold winter car to see me come out,” Hunt said.

Using basketball to combat citywide violence

Hunt, founder of ProCreate Academy, is a basketball development coach for players of all ages and uses the sport as a way to try to reduce citywide violent crime.

“Basketball has been my vehicle of communication and my passion since I was 4 years old,” Hunt said. “You don’t really understand how large of a scale it is until you see how many people value you because of what you’ve done.”

He’s also the creative director for DenardBros — an organization that hosts free community events throughout the Chicago area.

Both organizations allow players of various ages — especially children and teens — to practice and grow in a positive environment while gaining opportunities for college scholarships or advanced basketball opportunities.

“We can’t stop all the violence in the city, but we can alleviate some of the tension for a couple of hours each week,” Hunt said. “If we can get 10,000 people in an arena, that’s 10,000 people not outside in the street or in crossfire they shouldn’t be in."

After years of using basketball as a tool to prevent gun violence, Hunt said he will “be more intentional” about his mission with the organizations after having been affected by gun violence while going to a basketball event.

“We want to push the narrative that this is something that needs to be noticed, as far as gun violence and edification,” Hunt said. “How can we elevate this experience for these players but also give them some level of education to understand what our community is suffering from?”

‘You don’t really understand what it is like until the bullet passes through you’

Sunday’s shooting gave Hunt a unique perspective on gun violence he admittedly became desensitized to over the years.

“You don’t really understand what it is like until the bullet passes through you,” Hunt said.

Police have not shared a motive in the attack, and an arrest still hadn’t been made in the shooting as of Wednesday. Hunt said he didn't know why the shooting happened, but he was not an intended target.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger — who has spent decades advocating against gun violence in Auburn Gresham where he serves as pastor of St. Sabina Church — was hopeful police had enough evidence to make an arrest.

“When people shoot people, they gotta go to jail,” he said. “Without consequences, there’s no change in behavior.”

Hunt hopes an arrest is made so that he can have a conversation with his shooter in a controlled environment.

“I want them to see the person they might’ve killed so they can see the community they might’ve affected and see that the person who should be most upset with them and want the worst for them actually wants what’s best for them and hopes that forgiveness can change their heart as a whole,” Hunt said.

Hunt said if he had a say, charges would not be filed against his shooter.

“I fully believe the best ramification for any wrongdoing is taking accountability and forgiveness,” Hunt said. “I’m not upset with my shooter. I’m here, I’m alive.

“Hopefully, that would create some real pivot and change in his heart to be a more responsible, less violent, less angry individual and potentially push his life forward in whatever direction God sees fit for him.”

Hunt stressed that it’s those behind the trigger who cause the biggest problems.

“Guns are not the problem in itself, it’s the people who possess those guns that do not have the mental stability or emotional awareness to understand the sensitivity behind life,” Hunt said. “Life is not something that is disposable.”