Boy, 15, critically wounded after barrage of gunfire erupts in Bronzeville

Neighbors report dozens of shots after 15-year-old shot in face on South Side

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the face Thursday morning in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood.

CHICAGO - A 15-year-old boy was shot in the face Thursday morning in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood.

15-year-old boy shot

The backstory:

The shooting happened around 3:20 a.m. near the intersection of 48th Street and Calumet Avenue, according to police.

Officers found a 15-year-old boy on the ground with a gunshot wound to the face.

Paramedics treated the boy on the scene and took him to Comer Children's Hospital where he was listed in critical condition.

Neighbors reported hearing between 60 and 80 gunshots overnight. At least 10 cars at the scene had bullet holes as a result of the shooting.

"Makes you a little leery"

What they're saying:

Gwendolin Davis-Dawson currently lives right on the corner where the shooting happened. She lived in this area for about 15 years but moved to a different neighborhood in 2017. Davis-Dawson says because of some work being done at her permanent home, she’ll be living here for the time being with her sister, who owns the rental property.

"There were a lot of shots that my husband and I heard this morning. We saw two cars out here where young people jumped into the car… one went north, one went south. We didn’t think anything of it… we went back to bed."

Davis-Dawson and her husband woke back up at around 4 a.m. to a large police presence right outside their window. Because it was an active crime scene, Davis-Dawson said her husband had to go around the back to get to their car. That’s also when they realized the sunroof of their car was shattered. Davis-Dawson described it to be ‘frustrating.’

"I just got my car back… it was in an accident in January and I didn’t get it back until March. So now we have to go through this all over again."

Davis-Dawson says hearing about this kind of violence was a new experience for her, at least in Bronzeville.

"When I did live here, none of this was going on then. There’s always a lot of things going on with summer and the young people around here, and especially over on that side of the street. So it’s a little disheartening, with everything that’s going on. It makes you a little leery, that once you get home you go in the house and stay."

FOX Chicago told Davis-Dawson about the 15-year-old boy who was critically wounded. She called it "disheartening."

"With the guns and everything and who has them, especially young people, it’s sad."

Our crew on scene also noticed shell casings and bullets out in the open, even after investigators collected evidence and took off just after 7 a.m.
After phoning it in to 911, police came back shortly after 9 a.m. to pick up the remaining evidence.

Several CPD officers came back to the area at around 10 a.m. for an outside roll call, which is described by CPD as "an outdoor pre-shift police briefing held in a public neighborhood space to build trust and allow residents to voice concerns."

What's next:

No arrests have been announced. Area One detectives are investigating.