Man charged in shootings of girls ages 2 and 7

A Southwest Side man was charged Friday in connection with an apparent gang shooting that wounded two young girls this week at a Northwest Side park, authorities said.
Antonio Bucio, 22, of the 6200 block of South Tripp Avenue, was charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in the shooting that wounded the little girls—ages 2 and 7—Wednesday evening at Avondale Park, 3516 W. School St.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was expected to discuss Bucio's arrest in news conference later this evening at Albany Park District Police Headquarters.
The shooter got out of a van in an alley on Drake Avenue and fired at a group of people playing basketball at the park about 7:45 p.m. Someone apparently flashed gang signs either before or during the shooting, police said about an hour after the crime occurred.
As of Thursday evening—the last available report on the girls’ conditions—the 7-year-old's condition had stabilized and the 2-year-old had been upgraded to good condition.
Bucio’s criminal background includes felony convictions for retail theft and burglary, according to Cook County court records. He was scheduled to appear in Cook County Central Bond Court Saturday.
Some community members said Wednesday evening 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 the 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