7-Year-Old Girl Is Shot in Chicago While Trick-or-Treating, Police Say

A 7-year-old girl was shot in the neck while trick-or-treating with her family on Chicago’s West Side on Thursday evening, leaving her in critical condition, the police said.

The shooting, which happened around 5:30 p.m. in the Little Village neighborhood, occurred when at least one person in a group of at least three men opened fire on a 31-year-old man, according to the Chicago Police Department.

That man was shot in the left hand and was in stable condition at a hospital, according to the police. The girl, who The Chicago Sun-Times reported had been wearing a bumblebee costume for Halloween, was taken to another hospital with life-threatening injuries, the police said.

The authorities said that the girl and the 31-year-old man — whose names were not released — were not together. Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the police, said on Twitter that the police believed she was an “unintended victim.”

“Just a 7-year-old child out here, with her family, trick-or-treating, just like anybody else,” Sgt. Rocco Alioto of the Chicago Police Department said at a news conference at the scene. “It shouldn’t happen anywhere. It shouldn’t happen in this city.”

Sergeant Alioto said that detectives were canvassing the area for witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage. The authorities believe the gunman fled on foot. No arrests had been made as of Thursday night.

Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, said he could not recall ever treating a child for gunshot wounds on Halloween during his 20 years on the job.

“It gets to the first responders because they have kids, too,” he said. “It’s a tragic situation, but it’s not a common situation in Chicago.”

Chicago has long struggled with gun violence. In one weekend in August, for example, seven people were killed and 52 wounded by gunfire, including a 5-year-old boy who was shot in the leg while sitting in a car.

Overall shootings, however, are down this year compared with last year.

The Chicago Tribune, which tracks the number of shooting victims in the city, said 2,313 people have been shot as of Oct. 27 this year, 223 fewer than in 2018. That is also the lowest total since 2015.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has also pledged to find solutions to the problems with gun violence.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr. Guglielmi said on Twitter that the Chicago Police Department planned to release on Friday statistics that showed a continued decrease in gun crime.