GAGE PARK — A 12-year-old boy was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting in Gage Park Thursday night, police said.
The boy was standing in the 3000 block of West 54th Street about 9 p.m. when someone drove up and shot him before driving off, said Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.
He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was listed in critical condition, Pacheco said.
A neighbor, who asked not to be named, told DNAinfo Chicago that the victim and three other kids were playing tag in front of a friend's home when someone in a car pulled up to the group and flashed a gang sign, wanting the boys to respond.
When they didn't, a person in the vehicle opened fire on the group, the neighbor said.
The shooting took place in front of the home of Alicia Camacho. Camacho, who has lived at the home for the past 24 years, says that violence in the neighborhood is an unusual occurrence.
"I remember when [gang members] would gang signs up at me," Camacho said. "There's not much shootings around here."
Elizabeth Loza's brother Ernie was one of the teens who was shot at in the incident. She heard about the shooting from a friend's Facebook post.
"This is ridiculous. That could've been my little brother," Loza said. "I hear that the mom was at work when this happened so I feel bad for the mom. You could imagine her reaction."
Another neighbor told DNAinfo that the teen who was shot lived in the 5500 block of South Spaulding Avenue.
Elide Garcia, a neighbor of the teen who was shot, said that the family stays to themselves.
"I have kids and I don't let them go outside where I can see them," Garcia said. "The kid is always playing outside and the family is always quiet."
No one is in custody for the shooting, Pacheco said.
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