West Englewood neighbor shoots 11-year-old girl through window during argument, brother says
2 people of interest being questioned: CPD
CHICAGO (WLS) -- An 11-year-old girl was critically injured in a South Side shooting that apparently stemmed from a dispute between neighbors on Sunday afternoon.
It happened just before 4 p.m. Sunday on 68th Place near Damen in West Englewood.
The victim's brother, Ismael Gomez, told ABC7 he and his brothers went through their next-door neighbor's backyard to get home from playing basketball, and that's when an argument ensued between him and the neighbor.
"We told him, 'Hey! You can calm down. You can tell us in a proper way.' And, I guess, you know, everything went left. He went inside and grabbed his gun and started shooting. All of my brothers and sisters were in the window, trying to figure out what's happening," Gomez said.
Deajah Blizzard, 11, was one of Gomez's young siblings looking out the window. Then, Gomez said, the neighbor went back into his home, grabbed a gun and shot into a window, hitting Blizzard in the head.
"You tried to take an innocent life that had nothing to do with it," Gomez said.
Sunlight revealed the bullet hole where the damage to the family living inside is far greater than shattered glass.
"Nobody should see their siblings like that," Gomez said. "It was no need for no bullets to be sprayed."
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Deajah was transported to Comer Children's Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.
She was the second child to be shot in their home in Chicago in just days.
Police are still searching for the group that fired into a Burnside home on Friday night, leaving a 10-year-old boy shot in his chest. Both families are now left in despair.
"Just hoping that she's able to come home. That's all we want. That's all we ask God, is to bring her home where she belongs," said Arianna Mateo, the victim's sister-in-law.
In Deajah's case, police said two people of interest are being questioned by investigators. The victim's family told ABC7 that while still traumatized, they are thankful Deajah is expected to survive.
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