(RIVERSIDE) Two northwest suburban teenage boys were charged Tuesday with shooting at a group of other teenagers last year in a drive-by attack in west suburban Riverside.
A 15-year-old from Hanover Park and a 17-year-old from Roselle set up a drug deal via Snapchat to meet dealers on Dec. 1, 2017, in a backyard in the 200 block of East Burlington Street in Riverside, according to a statement form Riverside police. They claimed that they wanted to buy marijuana but actually planned to rob the sellers of their cash during the purported drug deal.
The deal never happened and “words were exchanged” between the two groups, police said. The suspects circled the block in a vehicle as they were leaving and the 15-year-old fired six shots out the window at the group of teenagers, who were standing in a driveway.
No one was injured in the shooting, but a building and multiple parked cars were hit by gunfire, police said.
The suspects then drove away east on Burlington and north on Harlem Avenue, police said.
Investigators gathered surveillance footage from a local store and red light camera and witness statements. They also obtained search warrants and worked directly with Facebook and Snapchat to identify the suspects, police said.
Both boys were arrested and charged with felony aggravated discharge of a weapon, police said.
