Two suspects are in custody this morning in connection with the shooting of two young girls who were caught in crossfire at a Northwest Side playlot near a community policing meeting, officials say.
The two were described by police as known gang members, but no other details were being made available.
A 2-year-old suffered a graze wound to the head and a 7-year-old was shot in the upper back at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday in the 3500 block of West School Street near Avondale Park, police said.
As of Thursday evening, police said that the 7-year-old's condition had stabilized and the 2-year-old had been upgraded to good condition.
The shooter got out of a van in an alley on Drake Avenue and fired at a group of people playing basketball, according to Albany Park District Cmdr. Melissa Staples. Someone apparently flashed gang signs before the shooting, police said.
Some community members said they were attending a CAPS police meeting at the park when shots rang out, and they ducked for cover. As adults scrambled to usher scattering children to safety, Jo Ann Trainer said she looked out a window and saw a man holding a little girl who had been shot in the back.
"I'm disgusted. We keep saying it's going to happen," Trainer said. "It's not the first time there's been shooting at this park, and unfortunately it takes something like this — a child has to be hurt — before they get more police here."
Tiffany Statkiewicz and her three children were outside playing when they heard the shots, then saw a purple van speeding away.
"My kids come here and play and now I have this feeling that I don't want them to play there anymore," Statkiewicz said. "It used to be, 'You're not going to the park by yourself.' Now it's like, 'Even if I go, what good is it going to do?'"
Trainer said she and her neighbors have long lobbied for increased security in the area, but to no avail.
"It falls on deaf ears," she said. "Until something bad happens, Avondale is the forgotten neighborhood."
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