2 Young Sisters Shot After Getting Into Car

7-year-old killed in Chicago in 'gang conflict area'; 6-year-old sister is 'fighting for her life'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 16, 2021 11:45 AM CDT
2 Young Sisters Shot After Getting Into Car
Police investigate the scene where two young girls, 6 and 7, were shot in Chicago on Sunday.   (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

A 7-year-old girl was fatally shot and her 6-year-old sister was seriously wounded in Chicago when someone opened fire after the siblings had gotten into a parked a car, police said. The 7-year-old was shot in the chest and torso Sunday afternoon and was pronounced dead at Loyola University Medical Center, police said. She was identified as Serenity Broughton by the Cook County medical examiner's office, per the AP. Her 6-year-old sister was struck in the chest and right armpit and was "fighting for her life" at the hospital, Brian McDermott, Chicago police's chief of patrol, said Sunday evening. The Belmont Central neighborhood where the girls were shot on Chicago's northwest side is a "gang conflict area," he said, adding that it's not believed the girls or their mother were targeted.

The girls were among victims of weekend gun violence in Chicago that left 55 people shot, including five fatally, from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, the Chicago Tribune reports. The shootings come amid efforts to curb rising gun violence in the city and around the US. Following Sunday's shooting, officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert and attempted first aid on the wounded girls as they awaited the arrival of paramedics. The shooting happened as the girls' mother was putting the two youngsters in the back seat of a car. McDermott said police were trying to determine whether there were multiple shooters and whether they were on foot or in a vehicle. He urged anyone with information on the shooting to contact police.

(More fatal shooting stories.)

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