Police Release Video Of Shooting That Injured Chicago Firefighter's 12-Year-Old Son; Neighbor Says, 'It's Time For This To Stop'
CHICAGO (CBS)-- Chicago Police on Tuesday issued a video they want you to focus on to help catch three gunmen.
In the video, the trio boldly walks up to Mamie Till-Mobley Park in the 6400 block of South Ellis Avenue in the Woodlawn neighborhood, and then starts firing. The 12-year-old son of a Chicago firefighter was injured as he stood in the park with a group.
CBS 2's Tara Molina spent the day with one neighbor, who issued a challenge to the rest of the community.
The 12-year-old boy was shot in the leg as he stood in the park. A pole-mounted camera caught the shooting and three of the men involved in it.
The boy who was shot does not appear in the video released by the CPD earlier Tuesday, but the men police said shot him just after 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14 do appear.
A man in a white shirt and black pants walks up to a fence, firing a gun into the park. It is clear as day.
We showed the video to one man who lives in the neighborhood.
"It's sickening, the man said. "The community got to come together. The police can only do so much."
Born and raised in the area, the man said he's had it with such violence. He said if he knew who the three gunmen were, he'd speak up, so he's asking his community to do the same.
"It's time for this to stop," he said, "and the only way it's going to stop is if we come together as a community - the same way I was raised in this neighborhood."
The boy who was shot, as noted, was the son of a Chicago firefighter.
"I probably knew him. I probably played basketball with him," the man said. "It don't matter if it's a firefighter or a schoolteacher. It's a kid being shot."
The boy is now part of a disturbing pattern of children being shot in Chicago this summer. A total of 18 minors have been killed in Chicago since Memorial Day, according to data from the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Again, we are talking about just this summer.
"We got innocent kids and grandmamas and babies out here dying - for nothing!" he said. "For nothing!"
And while the man wants his neighborhood to step up, Chicago Police and that 12-year-old's family, want you to take a close look at the video and submit a tip if you know more about it.
We checked-in with Chicago Police – as of late Tuesday night, there was no one in custody.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Area One Detectives at (312) 747-8380. Anonymous tips can be submitted at CPDTip.com.
