Police vow swift response to solve shooting of 12-year-old girl out celebrating birthday

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown vowed Wednesday the “full brunt of every resource we have” will be used on the gangs responsible for critically wounding a girl who was caught in the crossfire after celebrating her 12th birthday with a family dinner in West Englewood.

Brown said the Chicago Police Department has “great video” of the Tuesday night shooting in the 2300 block of West 72nd Street and is confident an offender will be identified as officers check out promising leads.

“This was heinous, reckless, senseless and the gangs involved — and you know who you are— we’re coming after you,” Brown said during a City Hall news conference called to highlight Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s “whole of government” approach to fighting crime.

“We want to send a strong message to these violent offenders that this won’t be tolerated in the city of Chicago and that there will be a price to pay in the criminal justice system for you. So, the full brunt of every resource we have will bear down on the gang responsible for this. Officers will work around the clock. Our homicide detectives will be relentless in solving this crime.”

Brown said police need the public’s help to solve the crime — one that has become tragically familiar to residents of South and West Side neighborhoods.

“If you know anything about any of these offenders. There’s some video that we’re going through. There’s cars that we’re trying to identify. But the people were on the street when this happened. So someone knows something that can solve this crime,” Brown said.

“If you come forward, you can come forward anonymously and you can receive up to a $15,000 reward for any information leading to charges and/or convictions for this crime.”

The girl was riding in a car when someone on the street opened fire in the 2300 block of West 72nd Street about 7:50 p.m., Chicago police said.

The girl was wounded in the back of the head. She was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition, police said.

Community activist Andrew Holmes told reporters at the hospital the girl had just turned 12 and is now “fighting for her life.”

“We need to seriously start turning these individuals in,” Holmes said. “If you have any video surveillance, any knowledge, license plates, anything, it doesn’t matter. This child is fighting for her life.”

The shooting occurred in CPD’s 8th District, which has seen a 29% increase in shootings this year compared to the same time last year, according to police data. Overall, crime is up 54% in the district, including more aggravated batteries, robberies, burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts.

Contributing: Mohammad Samra