2 Children, 1 Teen, 2 Adults Shot In Barbershop On West Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Five people were shot – three of them under 18 – at a barbershop on the city's West Side Thursday evening.
The shooting happened at the Gotcha Faded barbershop at 234 N. Pulaski Rd., at Maypole Avenue in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, police said.
At the scene, Chicago Police Deputy Chief of Patrol Ernest Cato said two men came into the barbershop, looked around, and then left.
They then pointed guns into the doorway and started firing multiple times, Cato said.
"The door was open and they were shooting inside the barbershop," said a witness, who did not want her identity revealed.
Five people were shot. The victims were boys ages 11, 12, 16, and men ages 30 and 40, Cato said.
The three boys were taken to Stroger Hospital of Cook County in serious-to-critical condition, the Fire Department said.
One man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair-to-serious condition. The other man left for a hospital in a private vehicle.
By late Thursday evening, all the victims' conditions had been stabilized.
CBS 2's Charlie De Mar spoke Thursday night to the mother of the 11- and 12-year-old boys. She said they were just in the barbershop getting haircuts in the busy barbershop at the time.
The mother said the boys love basketball and are kind-hearted. As to their conditions, the mother said one of the boys was out of surgery by 10 p.m., while surgery was in progress for the other.
"I'm very emotional. I'm real upset. My head's pounding. My son is in surgery, and I just hope that I get a call that someone's in custody for it," said the boys' mother, Cierra Mobley.
Dispatch reports indicated that the 11-year-old was shot in the lower left back, while the 12-year-old was shot in the right leg.
Cato said there was also a toddler in the barbershop at the time who was not injured.
"We have to do something about this violence, and this is going to be a cooperation with community and organizations," Cato said. "This will not be tolerated anymore."
When the shot rang out, the witness said, "Everyone started running up outside barbershop."
Nicky Triplett goes to Gotcha Faded for haircuts.
"Yes, kids always get their haircuts," he said. "Three kids got shot."
A bullet hole now fills the front window of the barbershop. A handful of spent shell casings littered the street.
"There was a guy, he was walking around saying he got shot in the leg, and the police telling him, 'Wait, we're are waiting on the ambulance,'" said the woman, who did not want her identity revealed.
"The door was open and they were shooting inside the barbershop," said the witness.
Detectives said there is surveillance video, which could be seen reviewing it in the minutes after the shooting. There was word late Thursday on a possible motive or who may have been targeted.
"They don't care about no one," the witness said. "There's no love in their souls, and this is sad."
Police late Thursday made several traffic stops in an effort to find the shooters. But no arrests had been made as of the 10 p.m. hour.