A 2-year-old girl was critically wounded Thursday afternoon in what police say was a drive-by shooting outside a West Side public housing complex.
Raneisha Jackson, who celebrated her birthday on Easter, was standing in a breezeway that overlooked a playground near her apartment in the Ogden Courts development, 2710 W. Ogden Ave., when a bullet struck her in the back of the head, police said.
Witnesses said the shot was one of several fired about 4:30 p.m. from a gold-colored Chevrolet with four men that then sped off down Ogden Avenue, said Harrison District Sgt. Leonard LaPaglia
The girl’s mother, 17-year-old Faydra Rhinehart, said her daughter was walking only a few steps behind as they returned from a friend’s house when the shooting occurred.
“All I know is she was shot in a drive-by,” said Rhinehart, who appeared to be in shock as she walked into the emergency room at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
That hospital–across busy Ogden Avenue from the housing complex–is where witnesses said a man carried Raneisha immediately after the shooting.
LaPaglia said Raneisha had suffered serious brain damage. Hospital spokesman Thomas Forbes would not confirm this but said the girl remained in critical condition Thursday evening.
“Her prognosis is very critically life-threatening,” Forbes said.
After she received a CAT scan, she was placed on a ventilator and was sent to the pediatric intensive care unit, Forbes said,.
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Rhinehart said her daughter was taken to a restaurant by her grandmother for a special birthday meal on Sunday.
“I love my baby so much,” she said, her face lighting up in a hospital waiting room.
“She has a pretty smile,” Rhinehart said. “She’s real playful.”
Residents of the area said they believed the shooting was intended for a member of a rival gang who was playing basketball in the area Thursday afternoon.
“On Easter, they were shooting around there,” said a young woman who lives in a mid-rise at the Ogden Courts housing complex. “Whoever is out there has a chance of getting hit. They always hit someone they’re not supposed to.”
A Harrison Area detective said the gunfire may have been directed at a group of young men who were playing basketball behind the housing units. The detective said a car slowly drove by a fenced-in area behind the apartments and a young man leaned out the window and fired several shots. Police are unsure if any gunfire was returned.
“There were numerous people out there and a car came by and fired shots,” said a Harrison Area detective who declined to be identified. “We don’t know if anyone returned fire on foot.”
At the time of the shooting, the playground was packed with children and loud music was blaring.
“Whoever did it didn’t care,” a neighbor, Rose Jenkins, said. “They saw all those innocent kids on the playground and shot anyway.”
Thursday evening, residents were milling around the front of Ogden Courts as several Harrison Area detectives canvassed the area. At Mt. Sinai Hospital, relatives and friends jammed the emergency room entrance. Many relatives stayed, keeping a vigil for Raneisha.
Thursday’s shooting recalls the death of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis, who was shot and killed by a sniper as he walked to Jenner School on Oct. 13, 1992.
Dantrell was walking with his mother from his home at a Cabrini-Green high-rise at about 9 a.m. that morning when Anthony Garrett, 35, shot him from the 10th floor of the housing complex.