CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A 9-year-old boy was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon in the backyard of an apartment building in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.
Police responding to a call of shots fired in the 1200 block of East 71st Street about 4:05 p.m. found the boy shot multiple times in the backyard, police said.
He was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. The Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed the death but did not have further details Wednesday night.
Rosetta Jordan, 81, who lives on the block, said her son, Eddie Jordan, 45, heard gunshots. Before going out to investigate, he ordered his 9-year-old son to the basement where he would be safe from stray gunfire.
She said her son found a “neatly dressed” boy lying in the backyard of a neighboring apartment building.
“I'm still shaking,” Rosetta Jordan said Wednesday evening. “It's just so sad.”
As Jordan stood at her front door, several police cars, with lights and sirens activated, rocketed past her home on three separate occasions.
Jordan Cynthia Smith-Thigpen lives in the apartment building just feet from where the boy was ki1led but didn't hear gunfire because her air conditioning unit and television were making noise.
“I'm glad I didn't send my 6-year-old grandson out to empty the garbage,” Smith-Thigpen said. “He has a bike that he wants to ride outside. We bought it for him, but now we don't even let him go outside because of all this shooting.”
Smith-Thigpen, 62, said the boy who was ki1led didn't live in her apartment building or on the block. She was not sure why he was in her backyard. “I'm depressed about the violence,” she said.
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