6 Injured by Gun Violence at Vigil for Victim of Gun Violence

Among those shot at Chicago memorial: a 12-year-old girl
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 26, 2017 12:06 PM CST
6 Injured by Gun Violence at Vigil for Victim of Gun Violence
Violence hits a Chicago vigil.   (Getty Images/mrtom-uk)

A crowd gathered on Chicago's South Side at a vigil for a young man killed by gun violence were confronted with their own chaos when suspects said to be rival gang members started shooting Wednesday evening, NBC Chicago and CBS Chicago report. Six people were injured, including a 12-year-old girl and a 43-year-old woman who a community activist says was the mother of the man being memorialized. The 12-year-old was grazed in the head with a bullet, per police, and is now in stable condition at Comer Children's Hospital. All of the other victims—which also included a 16-year-old, a 17-year-old, and two 20-year-olds—are said to be in serious but stable condition at local medical centers, per police and fire officials, though Reuters indicates only the 16-year-old, who was shot in his neck, remains in serious condition.

Jedidiah Brown, the activist who spoke to reporters, says the "opposition" emerged from a nearby alley, ostensibly after hearing about the vigil, via social media, and "shot up the memorial"; Chicago cops say the incident happened around 8:15pm. "No regard for life," Brown says, per CBS, which notes that no suspects were in custody as of Thursday morning for attacking the memorial for the 20-year-old, IDed by the Chicago Tribune as Jamayah Fields. As Reuters points out, the shooting took place just one day after President Trump posted a tweet threatening to "send in the Feds" if Chicago didn't remedy its shooting-related "carnage." (More Chicago stories.)

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