CHICAGO (WGN) — A 7-year-old girl is in critical condition after she was shot while trick-or-treating in the city's Little Village neighborhood on Halloween.
The girl was shot twice near 26th Street and Lawndale Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Thursday while she was trick-or-treating with her family.
Chicago Police Sgt. Rocco Alioto said a group of three was chasing a 31-year-old man and said someone started firing shots.
The gunshots struck the girl in the chest and neck. She was rushed to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. She was wearing a bumblebee costume.
A witness said the girl’s father was on the sidewalk screaming for help. An employee at a nearby cellphone store told the Chicago Tribune she pulled the family inside the store and applied pressure to the child’s chest wound while calling her name.
"This is unacceptable," police Sgt. Alioto said. "A 7-year-old girl that was trick-or-treating with her family had to get shot because a group of guys want to shoot at another male."
The 31-year-old was shot in the hand and taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in good condition. The 31-year-old was not with the child.
A witness said they heard four gunshots in an alley near the intersection and said the gunman may have been dressed as the Joker from the "Batman" series. Police did not confirm that information.
Police said they did not have a description of the offenders.
