Sep 1, 2008 10:29 pm US/Central
10-Year-Old Fatally Shot In Gang Crossfire
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A 10-year-old girl was fatally shot after being reportedly caught in gang crossfire Monday night.
A spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed the fatality, but the identity of the girl has not been released. Family members identified her as Nequiel Fowler.
About 5:25 p.m., Fowler was at 8728 S. Exchange Ave. in the South Chicago neighborhood when she was shot.
Witnesses say they heard the shooter yell gang slogans before opening fire.
"It's more like a reality show to me. It's unreal. It hasn't even set in," said the victim's grandfather Johnnie Flemming. "But this has become an everyday thing that is going on. It hurts me that it's going on, but in the times we live in, it's a sign of our times."
"I was in the window and I seen her get shot and she fell back," said the girl's friend Aaliyah Jones. "She was on the ground and I heard her scream and I went over there and she started crying."
Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien said the girl was caught in the crossfire of a gang-related shooting. She was originally taken to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital in critical condition.
Calumet Area detectives have strong leads in the shooting, but no suspect is in custody as of 8:40 p.m, O'Brien said.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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