Thirteen people, including a 3-year-old boy, were injured late on Thursday when an unidentified gunman opened fire on people in a park located in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighbourhood.
Chicago fire department officials said the child was in critical condition. Two other victims were also in critical condition, officials said.
Officer Amina Greer said the shooting occurred shortly after 10pm on Thursday. According to Greer, at least 10 ambulances responded to the scene, transporting victims to several area hospitals.
A witness, Julian Harris, told the Chicago Sun-Times that dreadlocked men fired at him from a grey sedan before turning towards Cornell Square Park and firing at people in the area. He said his 3-year-old nephew was wounded in the cheek.
‘They hit the light pole next to me, but I ducked down and ran into the house,’ he said. ‘They’ve been coming round here looking for people to shoot every night, just gang-banging stuff. It’s what they do.’
Authorities said no one had been taken into custody in connection with the shooting. The shooting comes nearly three weeks after Chicago saw an outburst of violence over the Labor Day weekend that ended with eight dead and 20 others injured. The city’s police department has responded to shootings that have grabbed national headlines by stepping up its crime-fighting efforts, paying overtime to add patrols to some neighbourhoods, including the Back of the Yards, where Thursday’s shooting took place.