Boy, 15, critically injured in Albany Park drive-by shooting, Chicago police say | EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team and Tre Ward WLS logo
Monday, May 20, 2024
Teen injured in NW Side drive-by shooting: CPD | EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
An Albany Park drive-by shooting Sunday left a 15-year-old boy critically hurt in the 3800 block of West Lawrence Avenue, Chicago police said.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A teen boy was critically injured in a Northwest Side shooting on Sunday afternoon, Chicago police said.

The shooting was captured on security camera footage exclusively obtained by ABC7.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Police said the shooting happened near a barbershop in the Albany Park neighborhood's 3800-block of West Lawrence Avenue around 3 p.m.

A 15-year-old boy was walking in an alley when someone drove by in a back sedan and fired shots, striking him in his leg, police said.

Police said the victim was transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital in critical condition.

The exclusive video shows the moment someone fires a gun from a vehicle, apparently at another driver. Witnesses told ABC7 the teen, who's recovering at the hospital, was likely not the intended target.

Security video showed what appears to be a silver SUV trailing a black car. Then, when the car turned into an alley, gunfire erupted.

A closer look at the video shows someone shooting out of the window of the silver SUV.

"He just said, 'Help me,' and everybody called 911," an employee at Johnny Blades barber shop said. "I talked to him, 'hey! What happened?' He can't talk. He said, 'please, I can't breathe. Just help me.'"

The victim's older brother, John Aspadin, came to the scene after visiting his sibling in the hospital.

"He's resting, right now," Aspadin said. "Just be there for your family. Always care for them."

Aspadin said his brother was with his friends, a few blocks away from home, when he became an innocent victim of gun violence.

He's thankful the teen's life was spared.

"A lot of people don't get that chance," Aspadin said. "I'm such a lucky brother because, you know, this could've ended badly. They gave my brother a second chance, and a lot of people don't get that chance."

Police have not given a possible motive behind the shooting.

No other injuries were reported and no one is in custody. Area Five detectives are investigating.

INTERACTIVE SAFETY TRACKER Track crime and safety in your neighborhood