A 9-year-old girl was fatally shot in front of her Chicago home by a neighbor, who allegedly fired the gun at her before her father ran toward the shooter and tackled him to the ground, according to a legal document CNN obtained Tuesday.
Michael Goodman, 43, is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of the child, who rode her scooter to buy ice cream from a nearby ice cream truck before the shooting Saturday evening, according to the document.
The shooting comes as the US continues to grapple with widespread gun violence, which is the leading cause of death in children and teenagers in the country.
Firearms accounted for nearly 19% of childhood deaths (ages 1-18) in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wonder database.
The father heard a gunshot and told his daughter to take her scooter back to the apartment.
Police swabbed the suspect’s hands while he was in the hospital, and they tested positive for gunshot residue, the document said.
More than half of all firearm deaths, as well as most of the year-over-year increase, were suicides, the report found. »
