9-year-old boy dies after being shot on Chicago's Near North Side: police

CHICAGO - A 9-year-old boy was shot and killed Friday evening near the former Cabrini Green housing projects on the Near North Side.

The boy has been identified as Janari Ricks, of River North.

About 6:30 p.m., the boy was in the 900 block of North Cambridge Avenue when he suffered a gunshot wound to the chest, Chicago police said.

Initially, police said he was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital in good condition. However, they now say the boy has died.

No arrests have been reported. Area Three detectives are investigating.

The shooting is the second in as many days in which a child was hit by gunfire. On Thursday night, an 8-year-old boy was among two shot on Chicago's Far South Side.

Children appear to be falling victim to gun violence in increasing numbers in 2020. At least 14 children under 18 years old have died in Chicago from gun violence since June 20, according to records kept by the Chicago Sun-Times. Four of them were 10 years old or younger.

Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.