The murdered girl was visiting her grandmother in the Austin neighborhood on Saturday night, playing with other children when a light-colored vehicle pulled up in front of a residence, three suspects came out and opened fire on a group of people, the policeman.
The 7-year-old boy was shot in the head and died at Cook County John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, Chicago Police spokeswoman Jessica Rocco said. A 32-year-old woman was also shot and went to Mount Sinai Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.
“You have to be tired of this,” said CPD chief operating officer Fred Waller. “Chicago’s heart breaks again. Austin’s heart breaks again. We have to be tired of this because, damn it, I’m tired of this.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in a series of tweets, lamented another boy “whose hopes and dreams were dashed by the barrel of a gun.” She asked anyone with information to come forward.
“As a city, we must embrace our young people to understand that there is a future for them that is not involved in armed violence,” he tweeted.
There are no additional details on the suspects, Rocco said.
Teenager, three others killed in Englewood
Another shooting Saturday night in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood on the south side of the city left four men dead and four others injured.
The shooting occurred around 11:35 pm, police said.
The victims were attending a large street gathering when “about four men” approached and started shooting, police said. The suspects fled the scene.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene, and a third victim who received gunshot wounds to the chest and back died at the University of Chicago Medical Center. A fourth bullet victim, aged 14, was taken to the Comer Children’s Hospital, where he later died.
Injured victims, according to police, include:
- An 11-year-old boy grazing on his leg and ankle. It is in good condition in Comer.
- A 15-year-old boy who was shot in the stomach and is also in good condition at Comer.
- A 29-year-old man who was shot in the foot and is in good condition at St. Bernard Hospital.
- A 35-year-old man who was shot in the hip, leg, arm and wrist. He is in critical condition at Cook County John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital.
There are no suspects in custody. Detectives continue to investigate.
Violent weekend
Chicago often sees more shootings in the summer months, an issue Lightfoot has vowed to tackle. This is his second summer at the helm of the city. Last weekend, more than 60 people were shot, 14 of them fatally, in 49 shooting incidents in the city.
Windy City is one of numerous places, along with Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, and New York, which have seen an increase in murder rates this year.
In North Lawndale early Sunday, someone in a white vehicle opened fire on a group that lit fireworks, WLS reported. Five people were injured and a 20-year-old woman died on Mount Sinai, police told the station.
Also early Sunday, a 10-year-old boy sustained a gunshot wound and a 48-year-old woman sustained gunshot wounds to both legs while standing in the hallway of an apartment building, WLS reported.
On Saturday night, a 15-year-old boy was among the three people shot in Little Village, on the southwest side of town, the station reported.
That same day, half a dozen assailants approached a group before dawn, fatally shot a woman in the head, and wounded two men on South Lake Shore Drive, police told WLS.
A 31-year-old man was also shot dead Saturday morning, while sitting in a parked vehicle in Englewood, police told the station.
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