Eight children wounded in shootings in Chicago since Friday night
CHICAGO - Five separate shootings on Chicago's West and South sides wounded at least eight children and youth, including three cases that appear accidental, police said Saturday.
The violence came as the city was flooded with celebrities and professional NBA players for the NBA All-Star weekend, and Pastor Corey Brooks said those visitors should not turn a blind eye to the violence.
"The NBA All-Stars who are not playing, we ask them to come to our neighborhood," Brooks said. "Let our kids talk to you. Let them touch you. Let them get to know you."
Three of the minors were wounded in a shooting at an apartment complex Friday night on the city's South Side. Police said the shooting started during a "gathering" inside an apartment unit and spilled into the hall, according to a release issued early Saturday.
Three adults also were wounded in the shooting at the Parkway Gardens housing complex.
Police said a 14-year-old girl, 18-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were listed in critical condition. The girl suffered wounds to her back, shoulder, lower backside and leg, while the woman suffered wounds to her back, shoulder, head and stomach. The man suffered multiple wounds to his leg.
A 20-year-old man who suffered wounds to his face, chest and leg was listed in serious condition.
Another 14-year-old girl, who suffered a gunshot wound to her leg, and a 15-year-old girl with gunshot wounds to her leg and foot were in good condition, police said. The release said the circumstances leading to the shooting weren't immediately known. Police said the 23-year-old woman was armed with a handgun, but didn't say whether she fired the weapon.
Police described the other shootings that injured minors as accidental, based on their initial investigations.
The first of those reports came around 8 p.m. on Friday night. Police said a seven-year-old girl was holding a gun when it went off, hitting an 11-year-old boy in the neck. He was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
A few hours later, a young boy was playing with a gun when it fired and shot an eight-year-old boy in the shoulder and grazed a 12-year-old girl's arm inside a home on the South Side. They were both taken in fair condition to a hospital.
Police said it wasn't clear who the gun belonged to.
On Saturday afternoon, a 14-year-old girl was hit in the cheek when a 15-year-old boy fired a gun at a home on the city's West Side.
The girl was taken to a hospital in fair condition and the boy was in police custody.
On Saturday evening, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the thigh in Roseland. He was hospitalized in good condition.
Police have not announced any arrests.