A juvenile is a primary suspect in the shooting of a 7-year-old trick-or-treater in Chicago that left the girl in critical condition, a police spokesman said.
Detectives also recovered a firearm that may be connected to the shooting, Chicago police chief communications officer Anthony Guglielmi said via Twitter.
“Criminal charges pending. Excellent work by detectives & prosecutors. We could have not gotten here without the help of the #LitfleVillage community,” Guglielmi tweeted on Friday evening.
The juvenile was taken in for questioning earlier Friday.
The girl, dressed as a bumble bee, was out with her family around 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Little Village neighborhood when a group of men chasing another man began shooting, Chicago police Sgt. Rocco Alioto told reporters.
The child was shot in the lower neck, police said, and is in critical condition at Stroger Hospital.
The child is “fighting for her life,” Alioto said.
“This is unacceptable. It’s a 7-year-old girl that’s trick-or-treating with her family out here and happens to get shot because a group of guys want to shoot at another male while there is a street full of kids trick-or-treating,” Alioto said.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson called the shooting “reprehensible” and those behind it “cowards” during a news conference Friday announcing historic lows in the number of homicides and shootings during October in the city.
“None of that matter if parents that live in certain communities can’t even take their children out on Halloween,” he said.
Police believe the shooting was the result of a dispute between two gangs and multiple offenders were involved, but police do not have an exact number, Johnson said. The shooter wore a “Jason” mask from the “Friday the 13th” movie, he said.
Detectives were reviewing surveillance video from the scene and numerous tips from residents, Johnson said.
A 31-year-old man was shot in the incident. He is in stable condition after being transported to Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to his left hand, police said.
There is no relationship between the victims, police said.
CNN’s Sheena Jones and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.
