9 kids among 17 wounded in Chicago shootings since Friday evening

CHICAGO - Seventeen people have been shot across Chicago so far this weekend, nine of them children.

At least three children were hurt in accidental shootings, according to police.

Friday night, a boy playing with a gun accidentally shot an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl in Bronzeville on the South Side.

The child, whose age was not specified, found the gun and was playing with it about 10:20 p.m. inside a home when he shot the other two children, according to Chicago police. The 8-year-old boy was hit in the shoulder and hand while the girl was grazed on her arm. They were both taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in fair condition.

Police said it was unclear where the gun came from or who it belongs to. All three kids are related.

At 7:49 p.m., Friday, a 7-year-old girl accidentally shot her 11-year-old brother in Lawndale on the West Side.

The girl was handling a gun when it accidentally went off and hit her brother in the neck, police said. He was taken to Stronger Hospital in serious condition.

Saturday, a 14-year-old girl was shot in Little Village on the Southwest Side.

About 1:15 p.m. she was with a 15-year-old “male acquaintance” inside an apartment building near 24th Street and Troy Street, who was handling a gun when the gun fired, striking her in the cheek, police said.

She was taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition, and the boy was taken into custody, police said.

Police said the shooting appeared accidental, but there has been no official determination.

Six people were shot in a single incident Friday night at an apartment in Parkway Gardens on the South Side.

The shooting started at 9:08 p.m. during a gathering inside the apartment and spilled out into the hallway in the 6500 block of South King Drive, according to police. A 23-year-old woman who was armed with a handgun was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the back, shoulder, head and abdomen.

A 14-year-old girl with gunshot wounds to the back, shoulder and lower backside and a 15-year-old girl with gunshot wounds to the leg and foot were both taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, police said. The younger girl was in critical condition while the older girl was in good condition. Another 14-year-old girl was shot in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

Chicago Fire Department officials said all three teens were in serious-to-critical condition.

A 20-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the face, chest and leg and an 18-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds to the leg were both taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, authorities said. The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.

The weekend’s most recent shooting left a 16-year-old boy injured early Sunday in Bridgeport on the South Side.

He was walking at 3:14 a.m. in the 900 block of West 31st Street when someone shot at him from a passing black sedan, according to police. He was hit in the leg and was taken to Stroger Hospital in fair condition.

On Saturday night, two 33-year-old men were shot in Little Village.

They were sitting in a parked vehicle about 8:45 p.m. in the 2600 block of West 23rd Place when they heard gunfire and felt pain, police said. Both men were hit in their right arms, and they were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said.

Earlier that afternoon, a 16-year-old boy was shot in Roseland on the Far South Side.

He was walking on the sidewalk about 4:52 p.m. in the 400 block of East 113th Street when a light-colored vehicle pulled up, police said. Someone inside fired shots, striking him in the thigh. He was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in good condition.

Three other people have been injured by gunfire across the city since 5 p.m. Friday.

Last weekend, nine people were killed and 14 others were wounded in Chicago’s deadliest February weekend in 18 years.