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Off-duty Chicago firefighter critically injured in birthday party mass shooting
The search continues for the gunmen behind a mass shooting outside a birthday party in Chicago over the weekend.
CHICAGO - The search continues for the gunmen behind a mass shooting outside a birthday party in Chicago over the weekend.
Schenia Smith, 42, died from her injuries and a 32-year-old off-duty Chicago firefighter was shot in the head and said to now be in "extremely critical condition."
There was also a 15-year-old girl struck in the shooting. We now know that she is the firefighter’s niece. She is expected to be OK — shot in the arm and now recovering.
In addition, three others were shot but will be OK.
The shooting erupted around 9 30 p.m. on Saturday in the 300 block of East Kensington in the West Pullman neighborhood. The group of people were walking to their cars when, police say, the offender drove past firing shots.
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"They were attending a birthday party at a hall, when a group of unknown offenders came through a very dark gangway, discharged their firearms, striking a total of six victims and then they fled on foot. So the detectives don’t have a lot on this case right now, and we believe there are people in the neighborhood who more than likely know who these offenders are and we definitely need some tips and help to point us in the right direction ," said Brendan Deenihan, Chief of Detectives for the Chicago Police Department.
This weekend, there were 64 people shot in Chicago and nine killed. So far this year, police say they have cleared 253 homicides compared to 220 this time last year — that is a 15 percent increase.