CHICAGO (AP) — Police say a gunman targeting someone else on Chicago’s southwest side instead shot an 8-year-old girl in the head, killing her.
The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the girl Sunday as Melissa Ortega.
Police say she was walking with her guardian on Saturday afternoon when someone fired shots at a 26-year-old man, who police believe was the intended target.
The girl was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The man police believe was the intended target was shot in the back and was hospitalized in critical condition.
The shooting happened amid a spike in homicides in Chicago. Last year was the city's deadliest in a quarter-century.
