ENGLEWOOD — Three shooters got out of an SUV in Englewood Thursday evening and sprayed bullets on a group of people, wounding seven including a teenage boy and a 1-month-old girl who was shot in the head, police said.
The mass shooting occurred around 8:13 p.m. in 6500 block of South Halsted Street. The baby was the most severely injured and was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
Charles McKenzie, a community activist known for his work with the Englewood First Responders and the self-proclaimed “Mayor of Englewood,” said in a Facebook post the baby is his niece. McKenzie planned to host a neighborhood event with games, food and children’s toys Friday about a block away from where the shooting occurred. He encouraged people to attend anyway.
“Yesterday was a disaster throughout our community. My little niece was shot on yesterday the same place that I am going to have my event today,” McKenzie said in the post. “We can not let anyone or nobody stop what we doing to change our community… and we have to step it up and step out in our community to try to decrease some of the shootings that are happening in our very own neighborhood.
“We can always say enough is enough but if we not out here trying to make a difference ourselves we just wasting our time.”
In a Facebook live video, McKenzie said his niece’s condition has stabilized. No other details were immediately available.
“Yesterday was a tragedy,” McKenzie said. “Yes, my little niece was shot yesterday, but God is good…”
“…That step that was taken yesterday don’t stop what we do for our community,” he added. “The people show bad things happen in Englewood, but there’s also something good that always go on in Englewood. I’m here to tell you guys that, as the Mayor of Englewood, I’m going to fight all the way. I’m going to go hard or go home…”
It was the latest mass shooting to plague Chicago this summer, including the slaying of five people inside an Englewood home June 15.
Video posted by CWB Chicago shows a black Jeep Cherokee pull up on Halsted as several people work on a car across the street. Two men from the Jeep run into the street and begin firing, at least one with an assault rifle. A third shooter crouches on the side of the car.
They open fire on the crowd, with people running in multiple directions. The shooters take aim at the people as they flee. One gunman fires at a person who fell down in the street. That person is able to crawl away, according to the video.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown, testifying before a special City Council meeting on summer violence Friday, said the man with the assault rifle — “a weapon of war” — fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
The video appears to show at least one gunshot fired at the shooters, who get back into the Jeep and drive off. No one was in custody, police said.
In addition to the baby, six other people were hurt.
- A 23-year-old man was shot in his right leg and listed in good condition at Stroger Hospital
- A 15-year-old boy was shot in the left arm and listed in good condition at St. Bernard Hospital
- A 45-year-old man was hit in the right leg and listed in good condition at St. Bernard
- A 30-year-old man was shot in the right arm and listed in good condition at Stroger
- A 36-year-old man was shot in the right buttocks and listed in good condition at UChicago Medical Center
- A 32-year-old man was grazed in his hip. He was not hospitalized.
Pastor Donovan Price, known in the neighborhood for his street ministry, said he arrived at the scene in Englewood after receiving a notification about the shooting on the phone. He later went to Comer where officers told him the baby was doing okay.
“The baby is still alive, and that’s a miracle in and of itself,” Price said.
Also Thursday, a 9-year-old girl was shot in the head and critically injured at the Grand Crossing and Chatham border. That shooting happened at 2:45 p.m in the 800 block of East 79th Street.
Brown said the 9-year-old was “caught in gang crossfire.” She also was taken to Comer for treatment.
No one is in custody for either shooting, according to police.
“It’s a bad situation that we’re in now, and hopefully it won’t get worse,” Price said. “The summer is still kind of just beginning, and it’s a shame to see things happening like this. I pray for everybody and I hope that everybody’s praying for everybody else.”
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