2 cousins, 13 and 14, critically wounded in shooting
Click here for updates on this story
CHICAGO (WLS) — A drive-by shooting in the South Chicago neighborhood Monday night has left two cousins, ages 13 and 14, critically wounded, police said.
The shooting occurred at about 9:30 p.m. in the 8200-block of South Coles Avenue. Police said the boys were walking on the sidewalk when someone in a red Jeep Cherokee fired shots and took off.
The 13-year-old boy was shot in the back and abdomen and was transported by officers in critical condition to Comer Children’s Hospital. The 14-year-old boy was shot and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. Both teens are expected to recover.
Family identified the 13-year-old boy as Swaysee Rankin and said the other teen is his cousin. They said he is talking and responsive but still in pain.
“Some people don’t make it outta this at all and for them to be little boys, they’re strong super strong and it’s a blessing,” said Ashley Jackson, Swaysee’s mother.
Jackson said her son was leaving a friend’s house to go to a cousin’s with a group of people at the time of the shooting and that he is not in a gang.
“My son is absolutely not gang affiliated from my knowledge,” Jackson said. “It was a drive-by shooting, just something random. He left out of one house and he was on the way to the next with a group of friends and somebody just pulled up and started shooting.”
Rankin’s mother called the officers who transported her son heroes, along with her son who helped save a little girl’s life last October in the same neighborhood.
That’s when 10-year-old La’Mya Sparks got caught in the middle of gunfire. Rankin used his shirt to stop the bullet wound to her back from bleeding until paramedics arrived.
“The police transported him in the police vehicle instead of waiting for EMS which ultimately saved his life so I feel like my baby was a hero to somebody and somebody returned the favor.”
CPD said the boys are not known to police and Area 2 detectives are investigating.
Family members hope whoever did this will be caught.
“The fact that this has happened to my little cousin is very traumatizing,” Demond Billops.
“These kids do not deserve it,” Jackson said. “These are babies laying up in these hospital beds that don’t even know why they’re there.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
