Eagle Watch: 3-year-old girl, 15-year-old boy shot in West Englewood

A 3-year-old girl was shot Tuesday night in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, officials said.

The girl was shot in the 7000 block of South Damen Avenue, police said.

She was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in “serious but stable” condition with an upper chest area wound, fire officials said.

Earlier Tuesday, shortly after 7 p.m., a 15-year-old boy was shot in the 7100 block of South Honore Street, also in West Englewood, when an unknown black vehicle approached and someone inside fired shots, police said. The boy was struck in the calf and buttocks, and was transported to University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition. No one was in custody, and Area One detectives are investigating.

The shootings of the 3-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy follow a weekend during which three children, including a 20-month-old boy, were fatally shot. Those deaths came one week after five children were fatally shot, including 3-year-old Mekhi James. On Saturday, Sincere Gaston, a 20-month-old boy, died after he was shot in a car seat while riding with his mom in the Englewood neighborhood. Later that day, Lena Nunez, a 10-year-old girl, was struck in the head by a stray bullet that came through a second-floor apartment window in Logan Square, according to police. Also on Saturday, a 17-year-old boy, identified as Antiwon Douglas, was fatally shot before noon in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. 

In the first six months of the year, Chicago has experienced a large spike in shootings and homicides over the same time last year, seeing a jump of more than 25% in the number of homicides, reaching 295, which is 60 more than the same period a year ago, according to a review of crime statistics. According to the statistics, 96 of those occurred during a 28-day stretch that covered most of June