2 Girls, 7 & 13, Shot At End-Of-Year Picnic Outside Elementary School On Far South Side [Updated]
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 16, 2017 7:40PM
Two girls, ages 7 and 13, were wounded on Friday afternoon in a shooting at an end-of-the-year school picnic outside an elementary school on the far South Side, according to police, fire officials and reports. Police said they were not the intended targets.
The shooting happened at around 1:51 p.m. outside Warren Elementary (9239 S. Jeffrey Ave.), in Pill Hill. Former students at the school tried to enter the picnic, but school security did not let them in, Supt. Eddie Johnson said in a press conference. After they went to the nearby corner, a vehicle came up and one or more gunmen fired, and the intended targets ran back toward the picnic. Witness heard around 15 shots, according to the Tribune. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford told Chicagoist that both victims were taken to Comer Children's Hospital. Authorities said their injuries were not life-threatening.
Shooting - 1999 E 92ND. CPD stopped a vehicle and has ppl of interest being questioned. 2 juveniles injured, non-life threatening injuries.
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) June 16, 2017
Langford confirmed that one victim, 13, was wounded in the hand, and the other victim, under the age of 10, was struck in the thigh. The Tribune reports that officials said the second victim is 7 years old.
Police said that persons of interest were being questioned after the vehicle that fled after the shooting was pulled over.
Vehicle stopped by CPD has been positively linked to the shooting incident. People of interest in custody. pic.twitter.com/HdouepxL1q
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) June 16, 2017
"This makes me sick," Johnson said. "These little kids out here are out here trying to have an end-of-the-year picnic and they get shot?" Johnson said.
CPS CEO Forrest Claypool meanwhile looked to reassure anxieties about safety at and around schools. "Despite this incident, the schools are still the safest place for children to be," he said. "There has not been a shooting incident at a Chicago Public School in decades. This was a highly unusual situation.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday afternoon visited the girls in the hospital. "This is a parent’s worst nightmare," he said, according to CBS Chicago. “Those kids were out on the playground enjoying their childhood. There is no person in Chicago who is not disgusted by this incident. These are our kids. They deserve their childhood uninterrupted by a bunch of gangbangers.”
This post has been updated and will be updated further as necessary.