Rosie Liggins' 7-year-old grandson stopped dancing around excitedly and rushed to open the front door for his aunt, who was carrying hot pizza to feed 13 relatives enjoying a family night in West Pullman Monday night.
Moments later, as he helped Kriscelle Bradley take the food into the dining room, assailants outside in two cars opened fire with "at least 20 shots from a strong gun," that ripped through several rooms and right into the body of the boy and his uncle who stood outside near the front door, Liggins said.
“For 30 seconds, we was in the house, and then they started shooting, and once [my nephew] seen that … He ran off, and that’s when he had got shot," said Bradley, 21.
The wounded boy and his uncle were not being named out of concern for their safety.
"This isn’t right; he didn’t deserve this," Liggins told the Sun-Times Tuesday morning. "[Family members] saw their brother, their cousin, their nephew down on the ground shot with blood coming out of his back, and for kids to see that is very traumatizing."
The uncle was shot multiple times in his chest and arm, while his 7-year-old nephew, who was shot in his back and grazed in his head, needed to have half of his right lung and the top part of his left lung removed.
Luckily, doctors at Comer Children's Hospital, where he was taken in critical condition, said he was expected to survive.
"He has a twin brother that's devastated. He has a 9-year-old aunt that's devastated. ... Something needs to be done," Liggins implored. "We have to try to not only get [Liggins' grandson] together mentally and physically, we have four other kids we have to try and get together mentally because they saw this."
The shooting happened in the 11600 block of South Yale Avenue around 9:05 p.m. Monday when gunmen in a white Audi sedan and gray Ford Explorer on the street fired shots, Chicago police and relatives said.
Liggins' 27-year-old son, who was also in critical condition when he was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, was released from the hospital and, wearing an arm sling, walked into the house with Liggins and Bradley Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, his nephew, who was scheduled for a CT scan to make sure the blood vessels near his lungs aren’t damaged, remains on a ventilator and is sedated, Liggins, 45, said.
The 7-year-old is an outgoing, happy, smart and helpful boy who wanted to dress up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for Halloween.
"He's never a kid to be sad; he loves playing," Liggins said. "I have no problems with him at home."
Tuesday morning, hours after the shooting, detectives clutching clipboards walked around the neighborhood, and the family continued to find damage where gunfire mangled their home.
"There's a bullet hole in my baby's room!" Liggins yelled in shock as she discovered the hole in a back bedroom.
One bullet even tore through an inspirational poster near the door, leaving a gaping hole partially through the phrase "stay positive."
The family has heard gunfire in the area recently. It's not uncommon, according to Liggins.
In November 2022, a 15-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man were both shot and critically wounded on the same block. A 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with the shooting.
Liggins said she wants the city to invest more money in neighborhoods with higher crime rates, like hers.
"They need to put these [ShotSpotter detectors] up. We need cameras back in our neighborhood," Liggins said. "You need to get more money out here on the streets to help save the lives of these kids."
Liggins, who has lived in her house for two years and in the area for about six years, said she is fed up with the violence and has been ready to move for a while.
When asked where she would go, Liggins said, "Anywhere but here."
