The families of two 14-year-olds, a boy and a girl, shot while standing with friends in the Gresham neighborhood this evening, appealed to other residents of the neighborhood this evening to help stop violence in the area.
The two were shot just north of 7800 South Carpenter Street about 6:30 p.m., according to the Chicago Fire Department's media office. Both were taken in serious-to-critical condition to Comer Children's Hospital with gunshot wounds, according to the Fire Department.
The boy was was shot in the left leg and the buttocks and the girl was shot in the right leg, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.
"As parents we have to get out here and come together, we need to take these streets back," said Bobbie McComb, mother of the girl who was shot. "Let's do what we have to do. I hope someone hears me, and let's work together."
According to witnesses, the shooter opened fire without saying anything to the teens, police said.
Police had the poorly lit intersection of 78th and Carpenter roped off with yellow tape Saturday night. A witness who lives in the adjacent building said that his son was among four teenagers hanging out on the corner this evening when a group of males approached them and opened fire. The man said that the 14-year-old girl was struck in the leg while the injured boy staggered away from the scene. His son was not injured, he said.
Maurice Barnes, 36, identified the injured boy as his nephew. Barnes gathered with friends outside Comer Children's Hospital, 5841 South Maryland Ave., and said his nephew was expected to recover.
Barnes said the boy's family all lives about three blocks from where the shooting took place and that his nephew was with a group of other teens when they were attacked.
"A guy just walked into a crowd of them and started shooting," Barnes said.
Another teen from the neighborhood ran to the family's home to tell them the boy had been shot, Barnes said.
The girl's mother said she was at home near 77th and Halsted streets when her daughter called her.
"She was screaming my name, 'Mom, Mom, I'm shot!'" McComb said. "From my house, I ran all the way there."
McComb said another girl took her daughter’s phone to say that she was safe at her home at 77th and Carpenter. The girl and McComb's husband helped put the girl in the ambulance.
By about 9 p.m., McComb had yet to see or talk to her daughter, who was shot in the lower leg, but doctors told McComb the girl is stable and conscious.
Barnes said the family was grateful that the boy was not hurt more seriously but they remained shaken by the attack.
"When is it going to stop? When is enough going to be enough?" Barnes said. "It's ridiculous. You can't go outside, you can't send your child out and be safe. He's got a curfew. His dad is on him to do right in school. He's a good kid. We're all sitting here in shock trying to figure this out, what going on, how did it happen, why did it happen?"
McComb said the family only moved into the neighborhood in September, but she frequently witnesses drug and gang activity in the area.
Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 20, the Auburn-Gresham Community Area was tied for 17th in the city for violent crime, with 16 batteries and 19 assaults, according to Chicago Police data. Two people have been shot to death there in the same time.
"A mother's worst nightmare," she said, as tears streamed down her face. "At 6:40 in the afternoon, who thinks that their child is going to get shot? I believe that she should be able to live her life as full as she can live it. She shouldn't have to go through this."
chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking
Mother of wounded girl: 'We need to take these streets back'
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Mother of wounded girl: 'We need to take these streets back'
