66-year-old man, two children hurt in Old Town drive-by shooting

A 66-year-old man and two 12-year-old boys were hurt in a drive-by shooting Tuesday afternoon in the Old Town neighborhood on the Near North Side.

They were in the 1400 block of North Sedgwick at 2:41 p.m. when a vehicle drove by and someone fired shots, according to Chicago Police.

The man suffered a gunshot wound to the hand and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said.

One of the 12-year-old boys was shot in the chest and the other 12-year-old boy was shot in the left leg, police said. Both were taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital.

All three of their conditions were stabilized, police said.

The two boys live in the Marshall Field Gardens apartments in the same block where the shooting happened, according to a statement from Alderman Brian Hopkins (2nd). The 66-year-old man is a maintenance employee of the privately managed apartment building.

Witnesses of the shooting said the intended target was a local person involved in gang activity and drug sales, Hopkins said.

The area surrounding the Marshall Field homes has recently experienced an increase in drive-up narcotic sales, according to Hopkins. Vehicles will stop on Sedgwick and people inside will signal to drug runners, who approach the vehicle and sell drugs for cash, sometimes stopping traffic until the sale is complete.

“I personally witnessed such a transaction last week at this location, where the dealer walked away from the vehicle blatantly counting his cash in broad daylight,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins said he contacted Alderman Walter Burnett (27th), whose ward encompasses the shooting’s location, and the Near North Police District commander to request additional drug interaction detail in the area.

Police were pursuing leads and reviewing video surveillance from nearby cameras Tuesday evening, Hopkins said.

In late October, twin 17-year-old brothers were killed in a drive-by shooting in Old Town, less than a block away from Tuesday’s shooting.

Edwin and Edward Bryant were standing outside about 3:15 a.m. in the 1300 block of North Hudson when a dark-colored vehicle drove by and someone inside opened fire, according to Chicago Police.

The brothers were two of four teenagers shot dead the weekend of Oct. 31 in Chicago.