Three boys and two men were shot Thursday at a barbershop in East Garfield Park on the West Side, authorities said.
Two people walked into Gotcha Faded barbershop about 6:15 p.m. in the 200 block of North Pulaski Road, looked around and walked back out, Chicago police said. Then they fired shots into the shop from outside.
An 11-year-old boy was hit in the back, abdomen and left arm, police said. Another boy, 16, was shot in the hip, while a third boy, 12, was struck in the knee.
They were taken to Stroger Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized, police said.
The 11- and 12-year-old boys are brothers who were getting their hair cut at Gotcha Faded for the first time, their mother, Cierra Mobley said. Their father’s classmate works at the shop, she said, and they wanted to support the business.
Mobley arrived at the shop after one of her sons called her saying he had been shot, she said. From there, officers directed her to Stroger.
“I am very, very, very upset due to the fact that one got shot once and one got shot three times,” Mobley said. One of the boys was still in surgery when Mobley spoke to reporters outside the hospital, she said.
The boys’ uncle, Chris Williams, decried the violence that is impacting children.
“It’s a shame what the world is coming to,” Williams said. “Kids can’t even get their hair cut.”
Two men, 30 and 40 years old, were also struck, police said. The older man was hit in the thigh and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, and the younger man took himself to Loretto Hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm. Their conditions were stabilized.
A toddler was also in the barbershop when gunfire erupted but was not hit, police said.
“We have to do something about this violence.” Deputy Chief Ernest Cato said at a news conference at the scene. “This has got to be a cooperation with the community and organizations. This will not be tolerated anymore.”
Detectives were reviewing video at the scene, police said.
