Crime & Safety

Girl, 8, Fatally Shot By Man Upset Over Kids Making Noise: Witnesses

The man accused of killing the girl was shot in a struggle with her father, police said.

Two stuffed toys and sunflowers are laid at the scene where an 8-year-old Chicago girl was killed in Portage Park Sunday.
Two stuffed toys and sunflowers are laid at the scene where an 8-year-old Chicago girl was killed in Portage Park Sunday. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — An 8-year-old Chicago girl riding a scooter was fatally shot in the head by a man who was upset over noise, witnesses said.

"It just didn't make sense. None of it made sense," a neighbor, Megan Kelley, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "Everybody in the community would just tell him they are just kids having fun playing. Just let them be."

The shooting happened Saturday night in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood. Police were at the suspect's apartment building Sunday, interviewing people and collecting evidence, hours after the death of Sarabi Medina.

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"Before he shot her, he had said something about them being too loud," Kelley said.

After the shooting, the gunman was tackled by Sarabi's father and shot during a struggle, according to a police report. He was taken to a hospital.

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"He ran over there, football-tackled this guy," community activist Andrew Holmes said.

Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern said prosecutors were reviewing the case for charges Monday. Stuffed animals and sunflowers were placed at the base of a tree near the shooting scene.

"With great sadness, we are devastated at the loss of another young life," the Chicago school district said in a statement.