6 shot, including 2 children, during baby shower on South Side

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - At least six people were wounded, including an 8-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, in a shooting Saturday evening on the South Side that happened while a family was celebrating the upcoming birth of a child.

Gunfire erupted at 6:21 p.m. at a gathering in the 6300 block of South Seeley in the Englewood neighborhood, according to Chicago police. Two men in dark clothing approached the family gathering and opened fire before fleeing on foot, police said.

Both children were taken to Comer Children's Hospital where their conditions are critical but stable, authorities said. The boy was struck in his back and chest, and the girl was shot in her shin, police said.

A 29-year-old woman was shot in her shoulder and chest, while a 42-year-old man was shot twice in his hip, police said. They were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where the woman was in critical condition, and the man's condition was stabilized.

The gunfire also hit a 23-year-old man in his foot and a 28-year-old man in the shoulder, police said. They were both taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized. The older man was later transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital.

Witnesses were not cooperating with investigators, but based on the victim's profiles police believe the shooting may have been in retaliation from an earlier incident in the neighborhood, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Detectives were reviewing footage from nearby surveillance cameras but had little physical evidence to work with at the scene.

The family was celebrating the upcoming birth of a child, authorities said.

The mother and grandmother of the wounded 8-year-old boy were seen waiting outside Comer, both of them visibly distressed. The mother, whose shirt was stained with blood, was crying out for her child.

"He's just a baby, he's just a baby," the mother said, as tears flowed down her face.

The grandmother told reporters the boy was in surgery.

Meanwhile, in another shooting, a 13-year-old boy was seriously wounded about 8:20 p.m. in the 1200 block of West 73rd. Two males ran out of a vacant lot and fired shots into a car where the boy was sitting, striking him in the hip, police said. The car drove to 69th and Racine where paramedics were called. The boy's condition was stabilized at Comer.

Speaking to reporters outside Comer, community activist Andrew Holmes called for prayers for the young victims and urged any witnesses to talk to police.

"We're starting the spring and summer off wrong," Holmes said.