Officers responded to a 911 call of shots fired about 12:08 a.m. in the 4700-block of Main Street, police said.
Residents said they heard several rounds of bullets flying through the neighborhood. A window was shattered, with one of the bullets coming through the other side of a building.
"I thought it was firecrackers. All I heard was just a bunch of pops," said Joel Rolnick.
They found the kids shot inside an apartment building. A 9-year-old had been shot multiple times, and a 6-year-old suffered a graze wound, police said.
The children were transported to a local hospital, where the 9-year-old succumbed to his injuries, officials said. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Jeremiah Ellis, who lived in the multi-unit building.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation.
Neighbors said the area is usually very quiet.
"Any loss of life is pretty sad," said Josh Gordon. "But it's pretty uncommon for this area to have something like this unfold. Just unfortunate."
Police cleared the scene after nearly 17 hours gathering evidence. Yet, the unfortunate events that unraveled in this apartment still lingered over those in the community.
"This is my regular walk. I think it's terrible. You know? It's very sad," said Edward Donlon. "I don't want to see it happen anywhere. When I walk, I always talk to people. I know people along the way, and everybody feels really bad about it. I don't want to see it happen anywhere."
There's no word on any suspects. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still under investigation, but police said there's no threat to the public involving the case
Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to call the Skokie Police Department at 847-982-5900.