Chicago police are investigating after they say a man fatally shot an 8-year-old girl in the head over the weekend after neighbors said the man was complaining about noise children were making.
The shooting took place about 9:40 p.m. Saturday in the 3500 block of North Long Avenue in the city’s Portage Park neighborhood, about 10 miles northwest of downtown.
Police told USA TODAY a man who lives in an apartment building near where the shooting took place, approached a group of people from across the street, pulled out a handgun and shot the girl in the head.
The child was taken to a hospital in critical condition where she was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
Police did not release the child’s name.
A police report shows the girl’s father witnessed the shooting, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, and tackled the gunman.
During the encounter, her father attempted to disarm the shooter, police told USA TODAY, and the gunman was shot in the face. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
A motive in the shooting was not released by police but, according to local media reports, witnesses at the scene said the man was upset about children making noise.
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Shooter in now police custody
A weapon was recovered from the scene, police said, and on Monday morning the shooting suspect was in custody.
Police did not release the shooter’s name but said charges are pending against him.
Photos taken of the shooting scene show sunflowers and stuffed animals placed at the base of a tree near where the girl was killed.
“With great sadness, we are devastated at the loss of another young life,” the Chicago school district said in a statement.
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Ice cream, a scooter and a child lost
Megan Kelley, a neighbor and friend of the girl’s family, told the Chicago Sun-Times the shooter confronted the girl and her father about noise before he attacked her.
“When he came out, before he shot her he had said something about them being too loud,” Kelley told the oulet Sunday afternoon.
Community activist Andrew Holmes told local CBS Chicago he spoke with the girl’s father after she was killed.
“He gave her money to get ice cream. She got ice cream for her and her dad,” he told the outlet “Then he asked her to put her scooter up, but before she could even have a chance to put her scooter up, this individual ran across the street, discharged that weapon. Now we have a child that’s lost.”
Detectives said it appears the girl was the intended target.
Police said the case remained under investigation Monday.
Contributing: Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nataliealund.
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