Teen ordered held on charges of shooting 7-year-old trick-or-treater

A judge has ordered a teenager jailed on charges of shooting and critically wounding a 7-year-old girl who was trick-or-treating along a busy Little Village neighborhood street on Halloween night.

The 15-year-old boy appeared in Cook County juvenile court Saturday, facing two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm for the Thursday night attack, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The shooting also wounded a 32-year-old man who police say was the intended target.

Judge Joanne Rosado ordered the boy held in custody at least through the weekend, with another hearing scheduled for Monday morning, prosecutors said. Authorities withheld his name because he’s a minor, charged as a juvenile.

Investigators are still looking to identify others who might have been involved in the shooting that has drawn national attention to the city’s gun violence.

The girl, dressed in a bumblebee costume, was trick-or-treating with her family about 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the 3700 block of West 26th Street when at least two people walked up to another group and opened fire, according to Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

The girl was struck in the neck, fire officials said. She was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.

Guglielmi said Saturday that the girl was still in critical condition, but doctors are “optimistic” about her recovery.

Tom Schuba/Sun-Times

A police source said the girl lives nearby and goes to school in the neighborhood.

The girl’s family issued a statement Friday saying they are “grateful for the outpouring of love and support shown by all of Chicago and the nation. She remains in serious condition. At this time, the family is requesting privacy.”

The 32-year-old man — who police say has had prior run-ins with the law — was shot in the hand and stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital. Police said he and the girl were not together and have no relationship.

The boy facing charges in the attack was arrested early Friday in the 3300 block of West Ogden, police said.

Ian Martinez was handing out candy near a Metro PCS store on the corner of 26th Street and Lawndale Avenue when he heard the gunshots, he recalled after the shooting.

The girl was struck in a nearby alley and her father picked her up and took her inside the Metro PCS to wait for paramedics to arrive, Martinez said. She was wearing a red or purple bumblebee costume under her coat when he saw her inside the store laying on the ground.

“She was very pale,” Martinez said. “It’s very tragic. We were [expecting] that it was gonna be a fun day.”

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