Boy, 15, due in court in Halloween shooting
Trick-or-treater wounded in gang attack, police say
“There’s no place for this savagery in our city.” Eddie Johnson Chicago police superintendent
A 15-year-old boy charged with attempted murder faces a court hearing Monday in connection with a Halloween night shooting that left a Chicago girl who was trick-or-treating fighting for her life.
The boy, who has not been identified because he’s a minor, was ordered to spend the weekend in jail. He has also been charged with aggravated assault with a firearm in the wounding of a 30year-old man authorities say was the intended victim in what they believe was a gang-related incident.
The 7-year-old girl, who was wearing a bumblebee costume while trick-ortreating with her father on the West Side of Chicago, sustained gunshot wounds to her neck and upper chest. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted Saturday that she’s in critical condition, “but doctors are optimistic about prognosis.”
The girl’s family said in a statement they were “grateful for the outpouring of love and support shown by all of Chicago and the nation.”
Police said a group of men were chasing another man when someone in the group fired. Officials added that the girl was nearby and was an “unintended victim.”
The Chicago Tribune reported the intended target was walking near the girl when the attack occurred. Police located the man, who was shot in the hand, a block away, but he refused to talk to investigators, the paper said.
The high-profile shooting took place less than a month after two of the gang members accused in the death of 9year-old Tyshawn Lee were convicted of murder.
“The shooting yesterday was reprehensible,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a press conference Friday morning. “I came here to brief you ... on the progress being made to reduce violence in the city of Chicago. But none of that matters if parents that live in certain communities can’t even taken their children out on Halloween. ... There’s no place for this savagery in our city.”
President Donald Trump, who made his first presidential visit to Chicago on Monday, blasted Johnson on Twitter in response to the shooting. “Chicago will never stop its crime wave with the current Superintendent of Police. It just won’t happen!” he wrote.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded to Trump’s criticism on Twitter, writing, “Superintendent Eddie Johnson is a lifelong Chicagoan who has dedicated his career to public service. You only serve yourself. The crime wave you should be concerned about is the one you are perpetrating against the American people from the White House.”
Chicago saw its fewest number of shootings and homicides in October this year since 2015, police said.