A 2-year-old girl was shot just steps away from the Leighton Criminal Courthouse Friday night in the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side.
The girl was in the rear seat of a car being driven by a male about 6:55 p.m. in the 2800 block of West 26th Street when another vehicle drove up alongside them and someone inside that vehicle started shooting, Chicago police said.
She was shot in the leg and was taken by the driver to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, according to police.
Andrew Holmes, an activist who works with families affected by gun violence, said he spoke briefly with the girl’s family to offer his support but respected their time to tend to their daughter.
He was outside Stroger Friday night, waiting to go back and speak with them when he took a moment to share his frustration at the number of young children being shot this year.
“This baby may come out with a limp or may not recover for this,” Holmes said. “[She might have] to see a doctor, a therapist, a specialist, a counselor for what? Because of your negligence?”
“Our children are the target right now,” Holmes said.
Marvin Edwards, leader of the anti violence group 100 Men Standing, joined Holmes and called the shooting “urban terrorism.”
“We are sick and tired of this stuff. Put the damn guns down,” Edwards said. “We living like this is going to be the new norm for Chicago. This stuff is not normal ... why do we have to be subjected to this type of living?”
Edwards said he’s tired of speaking with families who are wrecked and forced to deal with the aftermath of “senseless violence.”
No one was in custody as Area Four detectives investigate.
