Police: Teen arrested in Palatine shooting
A 16-year-old Palatine boy has been arrested and charged as an adult in a Friday shooting that wounded two teens outside a condominium complex clubhouse, police said Saturday in a news release.
Diego Garcia-Cordero, of the 0-10 block of Dundee Quarter, faces three counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, police said in the release. He was transferred to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago to await a bond hearing, the release stated.
Police were called to the Randville Condominium clubhouse on the 100 block of Randville Drive about 11 a.m. Friday on a report of shots fired. When they arrived, they found two male victims had been shot in the legs, but their injuries were not life-threatening.
Both were treated at the scene and transported to a hospital, and were said to be in stable condition, police said Friday.
Police said the shooting was isolated and gang-related.
A large police presence was at the scene, and local schools were put on soft lockdown. All schools resumed normal operations with 2½ hours.
According to a witness who did not want to be identified, two teenage boys standing in front of the clubhouse were approached by five people described as being of high school age - three girls and two boys - wearing backpacks.
The witness reported hearing five to six gunshots in rapid succession and heard someone scream for help. After the shooting, the five ran east toward Palatine High School.
Another witness, Jurhee Young, a Randville Drive resident, said she was in her kitchen when she heard five loud booms.
"I was thinking that it was fireworks, because it was so loud it didn't sound like a gun at all. And then I heard the kids screaming," Young said.
She said she ran out and saw the two youths on the ground.
"I ran back to my house, got scissors and rags and ran back over. I had to cut the one kid's jeans off at the lower leg to get the rag on to the wound," she said. "And then the other kid had shorts on, so I just gave him the rag and told him to apply pressure. Then (another woman) came over and she helped the rag on for him."
Young said the area has changed since she moved in 15 years ago.
"It was very peaceful around here and we didn't have any trouble. The last five years maybe it's been getting worse and worse every year," she said.
With Friday's shooting, she said, "People are really scared now to let their kids out."
Staff writer Steve Zalusky contributed to this report.