Seven-year-old girl in bumblebee costume shot while trick-or-treating on Halloween
The girl remains in the hospital in critical condition
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A seven year old girl was shot while trick-or-treating Chicago last night.
According to the Washington Post, the girl was struck in the lower neck with a stray bullet. The man thought to be the target of the shooting, a member of the Latin Kings gang, was walking near the girl on the street when the gunman fired at least seven shots in his direction.
“We heard the shots ... and I went outside,’’ Lali Lara, 25, who was working at a store near the scene, told the Chicago Tribune. “The girl’s father was screaming, ‘My little girl’s been shot!’ ”
An ambulance arrived five minutes later to transport the girl to hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
The target of the shooting is also in the hospital after being shot in the hand.
The gunman and another man fled the scene and the police have yet to make any arrests.
The shooting comes just days after Donald Trump’s first visit to the city as president. In his speech at the Chiefs of Police Annual Conference, Mr Trump said Chicago was “embarrassing to us as a nation” and said that Afghanistan was a “safer place”. Mr Trump made the same comparison while speaking about Baltimore at a campaign rally in Ohio in August.
Chicago’s police superintendent, Eddie Johnson, who boycotted Mr Trump’s speech, responded by pointing out that the national murder rate has declined over the past two years, as well as in Chicago.
As of 28 October, 2,313 people have been shot in Chicago, according to the Tribune, 223 fewer people than in 2018. The paper said that as of 26 October, 436 people had been killed in the city this year, 46 fewer than at the same stage in 2018.
According to The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom that reports on guns and gun violence, murder rates in large cities are generally higher than the national average. And though Chicago has received outsized attention thanks to Mr Trump’s remarks, it does not even rank in the top 10 of US cities with the highest homicide rates. St Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit were ranked as the most violent cities in the US in 2018.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments