A 13-year-old boy was ordered held on gun charges Monday, hours after Chicago police publicly accused him of carrying out a weekend shooting that wounded four children in Bronzeville.
In a news release Monday morning, police said the teen pulled a gun around 9:40 p.m. Saturday in the 4500 block of South Prairie Avenue and opened fire on the four other boys.
Responding officers later found the boys — an 11-year-old, two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old — suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. They were taken to hospitals in conditions ranging from good to fair. The suspected shooter was arrested about 20 minutes later in the 4600 block of South Calumet Avenue.
Police initially said he was charged with felony counts of aggravated battery, unlawful possession of a weapon and having a gun without a license.
But the Cook County state’s attorney’s office later said he isn’t actually charged with the counts of aggravated battery tying him to the shooting. He appeared in court Monday and was ordered held on three counts of unlawful possession of a weapon. the state’s attorney’s office said.
In a second news release, issued after the hearing, police said “charges were amended in court pending additional investigation.”
A spokesperson for the state’s attorney’s office said prosecutors generally “can file additional charges that would be added to a case at a subsequent hearing.”
The boy was expected to appear in court again on June 17.