An 11-year-old girl is in critical condition after suffering a gunshot wound to the head when a neighbor allegedly fired into a West Englewood residence from the outside Sunday afternoon, according to Chicago police
Police said the girl was shot at about 3:53 p.m. while inside a home in the 2000 block of West 68th Place. Earlier that afternoon, some of the girl’s family members got into a verbal altercation with their neighbor after walking through the neighbor’s yard, according to a police report.
The neighbor then allegedly retrieved a firearm and fired shots toward the home, the police report said. A bullet went through a side window, hitting the girl, according to the report. She was transported to Comer Children’s Hospital.
“Her family is going through the most unimaginable thing right now. We need the support of the city,” police Area 1 Detectives Division Cmdr. Arleseuia Watson said at a news conference outside the hospital Sunday night.
Watson said a firearm was recovered at the scene and detectives were questioning two persons of interest, although the investigation was still preliminary. She said she doesn’t think the gunman was related to the victim. Watson asked anyone with information to contact Area 1 detectives at 312-747-8380.
Community activist Andrew Holmes said he spoke with the girl’s mother and father and they are “totally upset and shocked, expecting their child to go to school tomorrow.” He noted that this was the second young child shot inside a home over the weekend. A 10-year-old boy was shot in the chest Friday in Burnside.
“Both these children should be in school tomorrow with a book, not in the hospital with a book,” he said at the news conference. “Stop protecting these individuals that are discharging these weapons.”