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A night of trick-or-treating ended with a 7-year-old girl critically injured after she was shot Thursday evening in Chicago.
The girl was out with her family around 5:30 p.m., when a group of men chasing another man began firing, Chicago Police Department Sgt. Rocco Alioto told reporters Thursday night. The child was shot in the lower neck, police said, and is in critical condition at Stroger Hospital.
The child is “fighting for her life,” Alioto said.
“This is unacceptable. It’s a 7-year-old girl that’s trick-or-treating with her family out here and happens to get shot because a group of guys want to shoot at another male while there is a street full of kids trick-or-treating,” Alioto said.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson called the shooting “reprehensible” and those behind it “cowards” during a news conference Friday announcing historic lows in the number of homicides and shootings during October in the city.
“None of that matter if parents that live in certain communities can’t even take their children out on Halloween,” he said.
Police have identified a person of interest in the shooting, which may have been gang related, Johnson said. The shooter wore a “Jason” mask from the “Friday the 13th” movie, he said.
Detectives were reviewing surveillance video from the scene and numerous tips from residents, Johnson said.
A 31-year-old man was also shot in the incident. He is in stable condition after being transported to Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to his left hand, police said.
There is no relationship between the victims, police said.
