The Evanston Police Department announced Wednesday that a juvenile suspect has been arrested and charged in the July 25 shooting in a backyard on Fowler Avenue, and that the investigation is still ongoing.
The department held a briefing for the media at 2:30 p.m. at the Fire Department’s headquarters, where Sgt. Kenneth Carter read a prepared statement in English and Detective Pedro Carrasco read the same statement in Spanish. Commander Ryan Glew opened the briefing by stating the department would not be taking questions or providing any additional information at this time.
Carter said EPD arrested a 17-year-old resident of Sauk Village in southeast Cook County on Thursday, Aug. 11, and subsequently charged him with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery in connection with the shooting.
“The juvenile has been charged as an adult, but we will not be releasing his name at this point,” Carter said.
Carter said the investigation revealed one of the teenagers there was the “intended target of the shooter,” but that the 13-year-old girl who suffered a gunshot wound to her neck was not that target. He said the girl suffered a “serious spinal cord injury” and remains hospitalized.
Carter thanked personnel from EPD, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force (NORTAF) for their work in the investigation thus far. Although the three EPD officers were the only speakers at the briefing, a NORTAF Forensic Specialist Unit truck was parked in front of EFD on Lake Street before the briefing.
Although investigators are not seeking any other suspects, Carter said the investigation is ongoing and asked for community members to provide any information they have about the shooting. Residents can call EPD’s Detective Bureau at 847-866-5050, or can use Text-a-Tip by texting 275637 (“CRIMES”) with a message beginning with “EPDTIP.”