Dec 17, 2007 5:32 am US/Central
Girl Killed, Boy Hurt In Drive-By Shooting
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
Police are seeking two male Hispanics who fatally shot a 16-year-old girl and wounded her teenage cousin in a gang-related drive-by shooting Sunday in the Back-of-the-Yards neighborhood, police said.
Police believe the teens were the intended targets and Wentworth Area detectives are interviewing witnesses early Monday.
Alexandra Toro, of 4722 S. Loomis St. was fatally shot at 1240 W. 48th St., the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said.
About 4 p.m., Toro and a teenage boy were walking west on West 48th Street when a white vehicle approached. Several unidentified people exited the vehicle and began shooting at the teens. The men then got back into the vehicle and fled, police News Affairs Officer Tom Polick said.
The boy was Toro's cousin, relatives said.
Upon arrival, police found the girl unresponsive in the street, Polick said. She was taken to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m., the medical examiner's office said.
The boy was shot in the leg and was in "stable" condition, Deering District police Captain Donald O'Neill said. He is recovering at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to Polick.
Police believe both victims are Latin Raza gang-members and were "probably the targets." The shooters are "probably Latin Saints," according to O'Neill.
However, Alexandra's family said Sunday night she was not involved in gangs.
Fabiola Andrade, a cousin of Alexandra's mother, said Alex -- as she was known to her family -- had just left her home before she was shot.
O'Neill said police are seeking two male Hispanic shooters who were in a white, Ford, Eddie Bauer style SUV that fled north on Elizabeth after the shooting.
Early Monday, police continue to interview witnesses, but "no one has been identified as a suspect," according to a Wentworth Area detective.
Toro, who had previously dropped out of school, had just enrolled at Tilden High School, 4747 S. Union Ave., Andrade said. She was raised in the Back-of-the-Yards neighborhood, attended Hamline Elementary School, 4747 S. Bishop St., and was the oldest of three children.
"You don't [know] what's going to happen," Andrade said. "I don't have words. I don't know what to say."
cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages 
Slideshow: This Week In Celebrity History Slideshow: The Search For Stacy Peterson Slideshow: Extravagant Celebrity Gifts Slideshow: '90s TV Stars Then & Now Slideshow: What A Way To Go Slideshow: In To Be Out: Gay Celebrities Slideshow: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
