Police were reviewing video Monday and calling on witnesses to come forward as they investigated the shootings of two girls, 11 and 12, in separate attacks on the South Side over the weekend.
"Detectives have been trying to get people from the community to step forward," said Officer Mike Carroll, a police spokesman.
The girls remained in critical condition late Monday afternoon, two days after they were both shot in the head. The shootings occurred 30 minutes and 4 miles apart Saturday evening.
Takiya Holmes, 11, was sitting in a parked car with her mother, aunt and younger brother in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood around 8 p.m. when she was hit in the head by a stray bullet, police said.
Relatives at Comer Children’s Hospital said they were told by doctors that Takiya’s prognosis was "not good," though she was communicating with family by blinking her eyes, relatives said.
“She’s not doing too well. It might be just a matter of time," said Takiya’s cousin, community activist Andrew Holmes. "She has not responded."
Half an hour before Takiya’s shooting, 12-year-old Kanari Gentry Bowers was shot while playing with friends at Henderson Elementary School in the West Englewood neighborhood, police said.
Kanari’s family told reporters outside Stroger Hospital that on at least three occasions, paramedics and hospital staff couldn’t detect the girl’s heartbeat. She remained on life support and so far has not responded to her relatives, her family said.
Chicagoans, these senseless shootings are on us Dahleen Glanton
There are many reasons Chicagoans must not allow the city’s violence to become a political pawn in the hands of President Donald Trump.
But two of them are particularly relevant right now — shooting victims Takiya Holmes, 11, and Kanari Gentry Bowers, 12.
Pause for a moment and say their names. Then…
There are many reasons Chicagoans must not allow the city’s violence to become a political pawn in the hands of President Donald Trump.
But two of them are particularly relevant right now — shooting victims Takiya Holmes, 11, and Kanari Gentry Bowers, 12.
Pause for a moment and say their names. Then…
(Dahleen Glanton)
“She’s a child and she was gunned down on the streets of Chicago … over nothing at all," Kanari’s grandmother, Patricia Donald-Bowers, said Monday. “Right now she’s my priority. … All I can do is focus on her.”
Police said no one was in custody in either shooting.
Carroll said detectives were canvassing both areas for any private video and reviewing footage from city police cameras.
He said the shootings were not related and the girls were both unintended targets.
“Shooters were aiming at other individuals when the girls were hit by stray rounds,” Carroll said, adding the both shootings occurred in areas with “high gang conflicts.”
Police planned to join clergy and residents at a community meeting 6:30 p.m. Monday at 57th Street and Winchester Avenue in West Englewood where Kanari was shot.
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