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A nine-year-old boy was shot and killed early Saturday morning in a shooting in Skokie, officials there said.
Just after midnight on Saturday, a nine-year-old staying in a Skokie apartment building was shot multiple times, and a five-year-old in the same apartment sustained a graze wound, according to the Skokie Police Department.
A 911 caller reported hearing shots fired in the 4700 block of Main Street, and police officers found the two children injured inside the apartment building, a news release said.
Skokie police “immediately began life-saving measures on the 9-year-old until Skokie Fire personnel arrived on scene,” the release said.
Officials took the children to the hospital in an ambulance, but the 9-year-old was pronounced dead shortly after arriving, police said.
In a statement to the RoundTable, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the nine-year-old victim as Jeremiah Ellis of Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that Skokie police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Ellis as an Evanston resident.
A spokesperson for the medical examiner said Monday that the office initially had Darrow Avenue in Evanston as the home residence for Ellis, but officials recently updated the victim’s address to Douglas Boulevard in Chicago.
It remains unclear if Ellis split his time between Chicago and Evanston, or if he had family members living in Evanston.
An update on the Skokie police Facebook page said, the shooting “does not appear to have been a random attack.”
Skokie police are asking that anyone with information about the shooting contact them at (847) 982-5900. People can also reach the 24-hour Skokie Crime Tip Hotline at (847) 933-8477.