Four Critically Hurt In South Side Shooting
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Three teens, one as young as 15, and another man were critically wounded in a Washington Heights neighborhood shooting Monday night on the South Side.
They were walking down the sidewalk in the 9400 block of South Justine Street when someone walked up and started shooting about 7:30 p.m., police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said.
All four were initially taken in serious-to-critical condition to area hospitals, but have stabilized as of late Monday, police said.
The youngest victim, a 15-year-old boy, was shot in the abdomen, Alfaro said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, as was a 22-year-old man shot in the chest, right leg and right hip.
A 17-year-old man shot in the left elbow and thigh and right wrist was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. A 19-year-old shot in the chest was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
Several neighbors who requested anonymity said they saw three men lying on the grass when they peeked out their windows after the shooting.
"It just scared the mess out of me," said one woman who heard about eight shots, called 911 and waited about a minute before looking out her front window.
"This is a quiet block," said Christine Haymond, a retired nursing home cook who saw the aftermath from her window. One of the men tried to crawl away after the shooting but kept falling, she said.
"Right before Christmas," Haymond said, shaking her head.
Yellow police markers sat atop shell casings as police processed the crime scene.
Area South detectives are investigating, but no one is in custody.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
