14-year-old girl critically wounded in Back of the Yards shootingon June 3, 2021 at 2:27 am

A 14-year-old girl was critically wounded in a shooting Wednesday in Back of the Yards on the South Side.

About 6 p.m., the girl was standing on the sidewalk in the 1700 block of West 48th Street when three people approached her and one fired shots, Chicago police said.

She was struck in the head and taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Anthony Vazquez / Sun-Times

No one is in custody as area detectives investigate.

Community activist Andrew Holmes said the girl was in surgery around 8 p.m. Her family was at the hospital.

Holmes urged neighbors who may have cameras on their house to give footage to the Chicago Police Department to aid its investigation.

With shootings up 36% this year compared to 2020, Holmes put partial blame on pretrial judges who set bonds, saying the lack of consequences for gun offenders is resulting in more violence — a belief previously expressed by Chicago Police Supt. David Brown.

“These streets belongs to the children, the parks belong to the children,” Holmes said Wednesday outside Comer Hospital. “Give our city back to our youth.”

Between 5 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, at least four other people were also shot in Chicago, two of them fatally.

Statistics released by Chicago police show the number of shooting victims has risen 24% over the same period last year. Through the end of May, 1,386 people have been shot in Chicago, a jump from 1,116 during the same time in 2020.

Murders have risen 5% compared to 2020, with the department reporting 252 murders so far this year.

Read More