A 17-year-old boy has been charged with firing the shots that struck a 14-year-old Morgan Park High School softball player last week, authorities said.
Chicago police arrested Jalen Hampton Tuesday at his family's home in the 1100 block of West 112th Street. After being identified as the gunman in the April 5 shooting in Oakdale Park, 900 block of West 95th Street, Hampton was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, police said.
The shooting left Kiara Faniel, a freshman right fielder and shortstop on Morgan Park's freshman/sophomore team, wounded in the right leg as she and other young players left the park.
Hampton appeared in court Thursday morning, but his bond information wasn't immediately available.
Faniel said that just before the shooting, a man in the bleachers who had been heckling the Morgan Park team throughout the game shouted out his disappointment over Longwood's loss as its players were leaving the park.
Moments later, while Faniel's back was turned to the man, she and her teammates heard gunshots and dived to the ground as their coach yelled at them to get down. Several of Faniel's teammates then saw the man running from the field, she said.
Faniel said she felt a burning sensation in her right leg while lying on the ground but didn't realize she had been shot until a few minutes later when she saw blood seeping through her softball pants as she rode the team bus back to Morgan Park.
"I didn't want to panic," Faniel said. "I just knew my leg was hurting bad."
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