JEFFERSON PARK — A 17-year-old boy was shot in his head Tuesday afternoon across the street from Jefferson Memorial Park, police said.
He was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
A man left a silver minivan and fired shots before fleeing, police said. The victim collapsed on the front lawn of a house in the 5400 block of West Higgins Avenue, police said.
An employee at the Gale Street Inn, 4914 N. Milwaukee Ave., was parking her car behind the restaurant when she heard a single loud pop, she said. She turned around and saw a "kid" running from the parking lot of the next-door TCF Bank into the gangway of an apartment building, she said.
"I thought it was just some kids playing around, so I didn't think anything of it," she said. "Then I came back out a few minutes later, and everything was covered in police tape."
Chris M., who declined to give his last name, had just gotten home to his apartment building in the 5400 block of West Higgins Avenue when he heard the shot, followed by "some screaming," he said.
He looked out to see two youths on his front sidewalk, he said. Both were wearing backpacks.
"One of them was lying there bleeding, and the other was crying over him and calling the police."
The shooting was Jefferson Park's second in two weeks, following the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Stoll on Feb. 9. Before that, only four shootings had been recorded in Jefferson Park since 2010, according to DNAinfo data.
"It seems like this stuff is happening around here more and more," Chris said of the shootings. "I try not to get too worried about it, but people are definitely more nervous."
No one was in custody for the shooting, police said.
