CHICAGO — Police will be increasing patrols in the Little Village neighborhood following Saturday’s fatal shooting of 8-year-old Melissa Ortega, Superintendent David Brown said at a news conference Monday.
Ortega was shot in the head while walking with her mother at 2:45 p.m. in the 3900 block of West 26th Street, according to Chicago police. She was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
“The last few days have been really, really hard for the family of Melissa, the neighborhood of Little Village, all the residents, and the men and women of the Chicago Police Department,” Brown said. “It’s just unspeakable to lose the life of an 8-year-old, a little girl, under these circumstances or any circumstances for that matter. And we owe it to Melissa and her family and the city to hold every person involved accountable.”
Police said the shooter wasn’t aiming at Melissa — who was a student in the third grade at Emiliano Zapata Academy — or her mother. Authorities said the shooter intended to harm a 26-year-old man who was walking out of a store not far from where the girl and her mother stood.
The 26-year-old also was shot in the lower back and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition; officials did not have an update on his condition as of Monday afternoon.
Brown at the news conference said everyone “must rise to this occasion” and that the Police Department won’t stop working until there is justice. Brown said the department is collaborating with New Life Center Church and the Mexican consulate to provide resources to Melissa’s family and residents of the Little Village community.
“We have to work together to make change,” Brown said. “Every effort we make today impacts the safety of our city tomorrow.”
Chief of Patrol Brian McDermott said the Police Department will “spare no expense” to bring justice to Melissa’s family. The department will put additional resources into the area that covers Little Village to target gangs and prevent retaliatory shootings. Specialized units will saturate the neighborhood.
“I can only hope this senseless violence makes everyone as sick to their stomach as I am,” McDermott said. “I can assure you that all CPD members take this as personally as I am.”
Ernest Cato, chief of the Bureau of Counterterrorism, said the criminal networks group is trying to identify who is driving violence. Chicago police are also working with federal organizations and violence interrupters.
“Far too often, innocent lives are caught in the crossfire,” Cato said.
Brown said so far this year, 578 guns have been seized, 100 people have been arrested related to carjackings, and $6 million has been seized from gang members.
At an unrelated news conference Monday morning, Mayor Lori Lightfoot extended her condolences to Melissa’s family and said the mayor’s office is providing support to Little Village.
“I’m pleased to say that as it always does, the Little Village community has really stood up and rallied to wrap its arms around the Ortega family and really help with every conceivable need. My team and the mayor’s office and across city government has also provided support and we’re continuing to do so,” Lightfoot said. “I’ve been following the investigation very closely. I can’t get into a lot of specific details, but I can tell you that the detectives have been literally working 24/7, that there are some promising leads and I hope that we’ll have a more substantive announcement soon.”
Lightfoot said gangs and guns are “the primary drivers” of violence in Chicago.
“We’ve got to make sure that we send a very clear message and strike very hard blows against every gang member in our city,” Lightfoot said. “Obviously, this little girl was not the intended target, but the fact that they are reckless and operate without any regard for the sanctity of human life, we have got to stand up and stop them and use every tool at our disposal to do so.”
Melissa and her mother moved to Chicago in August after emigrating from Mexico, according to an online fundraising page created to offset funeral expenses. The GoFundMe page said she is to be buried in her hometown of Los Sauces in the Mexican state of Tabasco.
Those with information about the shooting can call the Chicago Police Department’s anonymous tip line at 833-408-0069.
———
(Chicago Tribune’s Sarah Freishtat contributed to this story.)
———
