2 gunmen open fire at Chicago basketball court, at least 13 wounded, incl 3yo
Chicago police say two gunmen attacked a crowd on a park basketball court, with at least 13 people injured in the shooting, including three-year-old, their conditions from serious to critical. The gunmen haven’t been taken into custody yet.
Chicago Fire Department officials report the child is in critical condition.
“They hit the light pole next to me, but I ducked down and ran into the house,” Julian Harris, uncle of the wounded child, said. “They've been coming round here looking for people to shoot every night, just gang-banging stuff. It's what they do.”
A witness at the scene told the Chicago Tribune that three
police officers carried the child to an ambulance.
"I didn't hear any sounds from the child,” the witness
said.
The aunt of the boy who was shot told local reporters that her brother was killed on Labor Day at the beginning of September in Chicago, too. It’s her second relative affected by gun violence this month.
Two other victims were also in critical condition, officials say.
A crowd gathers near the scene of the shooting pic.twitter.com/0KiuPh8TU6
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) September 20, 2013
A witness told the Chicago Sun-Times that dreadlocked men shot at
him from a gray sedan before turning toward Cornell Square Park
and firing at other people in the area.
The attack took place about 10:15 pm local time, and fire officials called an Emergency Medical Services Plan II, sending at least 10 ambulances to the scene.
About 60 police officers were also deployed.
There were no immediate reports of fatalities, Chicago police
officer Amina Greer told Reuters, and no one is currently in
custody in connection with the shooting.
The territory where the shooting took place is cordoned off.
Chicago has been torn by gun violence in recent years, racking up more than 500 murders in 2012, according to a report this week by the FBI.
By comparison, New York City, which has a population three times the size of Chicago, recorded 419 murders in 2012, the FBI said.
51st & Wood (Chicago Park): EMS PLAN 2 (10+ ambos) for the multiple shooting victims pic.twitter.com/sI6fkyLL6b
— Paris Lewbel (@plewbel) September 20, 2013
Scene pic.twitter.com/uUuQAW3Knx
— Becky Schlikerman (@schlikerman) September 20, 2013
