CHICAGO — Two men were injured in a shooting not far from the Cook County Jail in Little Village Tuesday afternoon.
Blanca Rivera, 24, said her brother was grazed on his ankle by gunfire and his friend was shot up to three times while the two men were walking in the 2400 block of South Washtenaw Avenue.
A car had pulled up and one man got out before firing and speeding away, she said. Police said a man got out of the passenger side of a gray sedan before fleeing in the car.
Several shell casings remained at the scene — Rivera said about nine shots were fired in all.
The men were outside about 12:05 p.m. when the shooting took place, said Officer Michael Sullivan, a police spokesman.
One of the victims, who was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, was identified only as "Tyrone" by Rivera, who said he was hit twice on one side of his body and once on the other.
"My brother started running away, but Tyrone held back a second to look and that's how he got hit," Rivera said.
Rivera's brother was being questioned by police up to an hour after the shooting, before he was eventually taken to a station for further questioning.
Rivera's mother said she was terrified when she was told of her son's injury.
"When my daughter called me I felt like I died, then I saw my son alive and it all came back to me," she said. "I thank God it wasn't my son, but I'm so sad for his friend."
Rivera, who has lived in the area all of her life, said she fears for her two young children every day.
"I'm really worried for my life," she said, "You see [gang members] every day and you don't know whether to say hi just to be safe — I try to be friendly to everyone, but then the shootings happen and you can't even go out to play with the kids."
The Cook County Jail and courthouse are in the 3000 block of South California Avenue, a few blocks away from where the shooting occurred.
No one was in custody for the shooting.
