CANARYVILLE — The gunfire that erupted on a busy corner left a teen victim bleeding on a stoop and sent a bullet through an ornate stained glass window at St. Gabriel's Catholic Church.
The shooting took place about 7:45 p.m. Thursday in the 4500 block of South Lowe Avenue. A witness to the shooting told DNAinfo Chicago the victim, a 16-year-old boy, was walking with two other teens when a man approached them at the corner and opened fire.
The hail of bullets only hit one teen, who was shot in the belly and staggered to the front porch of an apartment building overlooking the beloved neighborhood church. The teen was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in serious condition.
His injury is what's known as a "through and through," meaning the bullet "went in one side and out the other," said police News Affairs Officer Janel Sedevic.
No arrests have been made, police said.
At least one of the bullets pierced a stained glass window at the church and bent a small lead bar that hold some panels together.
The bullet still hasn't been found, leading several elderly parishioners to wander around the church in search of it prior to Friday's 8 a.m. Mass.
The church's longtime caretaker said he arrived early Friday to find "an explosion" of purple-stained glass shards strewn across the pews, some landing a few inches away from table holding communion wafers and wine.
The shooting near the church — described as the heart-and-soul of the predominantly Irish-Catholic neighborhood — has left the tight-knit Canaryville community reeling.
"We have one of the most beautiful churches in the city. For it to be defiled is unimaginable," said Janet McCormick, a Canaryville resident and organizer for local CAPS meetings.
McCormick encouraged residents to come out and have their say about neighborhood crime issues at the group's meetings, which take place at the St. Gabriel school hall every third Wednesday of the month.
"We have meetings every month. We're there whether's there's a shooting or not," she said.
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