A 14-year-old girl is in critical condition after she was shot in the head while out for a walk in Chicago on Wednesday evening.
The girl was on her way to a store with her boyfriend and was walking her dog in the city’s Back of the Yards neighborhood when three people confronted her and asked if she is a member of a gang, police said.
After the girl said she wasn’t, the gunmen, who investigators said were believed to be aged 15 and younger, chased the girl down and shot at her, striking her in the head, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
CHICAGO POLICE DISCOURAGED FROM CHASING CERTAIN CRIMINAL SUSPECTS ON FOOT IN NEW POLICY
The victim was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, a police spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
Alderman Raymond Lopez, who represents the city’s 15th Ward, where Back of the Yards is located, said on Wednesday that the city “needs to get its head out of its ass & get serious about confronting gangs.”
What the hell is going on tonight. I’m still on scene for the gang shooting in Back of the Yards and now 17 rounds fired off in front of Shields Elementary School in Brighton Park. This city needs to get its head out of its ass & get serious about confronting gangs.
— Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RLopez15thWard) June 3, 2021
A girl & her boyfriend are “checked” by gang members. The girl’s response was to tell them while she’s not a gang banger, her mom is. Shots fired & shooters run away. Generational gang life swirling unchecked.
Chicago it’s only Wednesday!#EnoughIsEnough#CancelGangCulture https://t.co/MmPkBPWOxM
— Ald. Raymond Lopez (@RLopez15thWard) June 3, 2021
“A girl & her boyfriend are ‘checked’ by gang members,” Lopez also wrote on Twitter. “The girl’s response was to tell them while she’s not a gang banger, her mom is. Shots fired & shooters run away. Generational gang life swirling unchecked.”
“Over and over again, we just spinning wheels, this gun violence has not stopped, and when you look at it, it’s always our children, and for what?” community activist Andrew Holmes said following the shooting, according to local outlet WGN 9. “They don’t have a reason or clue why they discharged this weapon. I’m asking, please turn these individuals in.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A total of 1,386 people were shot in Chicago this year through May, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, up from the 1,116 people shot over the same stretch in 2020.
