Video surveillance captured a 15-year-old boy donning a ski mask before he opened fire during a “teen takeover” melee leaving a 46-year-old tourist from Connecticut shot in Streeterville last month, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The teen, who was cited in a juvenile petition with aggravated battery with a firearm and unlawful possession of a weapon, appeared in juvenile court before Judge Tiesha L. Smith, who ordered him held.
Wearing an orange detention center sweater, the teen occasionally glanced back at his mother as he stood before Smith while prosecutors urged that he be held due to “these very egregious acts” despite not having a criminal record.
Prosecutors, who did not make clear a motive for the shooting, said the suspect was captured on video footage putting on a ski mask in the Streeterville area about an hour before the shooting, which happened about 8:10 p.m. on March 9, outside the AMC River East 21 movie theater, 322 E. Illinois St.
Then, after he gathered with a group near the theater, they “engaged” with another group nearby, officials said.
When members of the rival group began running toward the teen, he sprinted away before turning around and allegedly opening fire at them, prosecutors said.
One of the bullets hit a 46-year-old woman from Connecticut who was standing with her 11-year-old son trying to cross the street. She was shot in the arm and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
After the shooting, the teen fled and boarded a CTA Red Line train until he reached the 87th Street stop near where he lives, prosecutors said.
A police officer working at Perspectives High School identified the ninth grader in a photo array, and officers recovered video footage from the theater’s security office. At least six fired shell casings were recovered at 342 E. Illinois St., police said.
The teen is the youngest of four children and is a “B” student at Perspectives, said his attorney, public defender Mara Adelman, adding that he is also part of a youth outreach group.
After issuing her ruling, Smith addressed the boy and his mom, saying, “In good conscience, I can’t release him.
“What we have here is an innocent bystander who was just trying to be a tourist. This woman could’ve been hurt far worse than what she was alleged to be hurt,” Smith said. “We’re lucky only one person was shot.”
The boy’s mom and the woman shot both declined to comment when reached by the Chicago Sun-Times.