CHICAGO – Eight people were shot, including a young girl who died in what Chicago police believe was gang-related violence on the city’s South Side on Saturday night.
Chicago Deputy Police Chief Don Jerome said a 7-year-old girl was shot in the head and died, while a 1-year-old boy and a 7-year-old boy were each shot multiple times and were listed in critical condition. during a news conference at the scene on the block of 52nd Street near Damen Avenue.
Police responding to a gunshot alert around 9 p.m. applied tourniquets and chest seals to the victims, who included adults between the ages of 19 and 40, Jerome said.
The victims, who were standing outside at a family gathering at the time of the shooting, were transported by the Chicago Fire Department to area hospitals.
The investigation is still in the preliminary stages, Jerome said, but witness accounts describe two possible shooters on foot.
“This was not a random act of violence,” Jerome said. It could be gang related.” “Regardless of the motive for this incident, three innocent children were attacked tonight and one of them tragically passed away from his injuries. The actions of the criminals, unmistakable mixed, is terrible and unacceptable in our city.”
