Primary suspect ID’d after girl, 7, shot while trick-or-treating in Little Village

Chicago police have identified a primary suspect in the Halloween shooting of a 7-year-old girl and another man in Little Village.

CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted Friday evening the development in the investigation was due in large part to community members coming forward with information.

“We could not have gotten here without the help of the Little Village community,” Guglielmi said. Charges are pending against the juvenile in custody.

The girl was trick-or-treating with her family about 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the 3700 block of West 26^th Street when at least two people walked up to another group and opened fire, police said.

The girl was shot in a nearby alley and was rushed to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said. She was expected to be transferred to Comer Medical Center.

A police source said the girl and her family live nearby and she attends school in the neighborhood, as well.

Tom Schuba/Sun-Times

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.

The girl was struck in a nearby alley and her father, Martinez said, picked her up and took her inside the Metro PCS to wait for paramedics to arrive. 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. Things like this are not allowed. They should do more police inspections around this area.”

A 30-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting when he suffered a gunshot wound to his hand, police said. He was stabilized at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Police said the man and girl were not together and have no relationship and the man shot was the intended target.

Police said they would be pulling video surveillance footage from a nearby POD police camera and said tips had already been passed along to the department from members of the community.

Police said at least three suspects ran off after the shooting. Extra patrols were being added to the area to search for people who matched a description of the shooters that was provided to police.

Jose Vazquez didn’t witness the shooting but said the scene of the attack has been a hotbed for violence.

“That alley is crazy,” he said.

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