Police investigate whether altercation led to shooting

Seeing her children covered in blood was one of the biggest shocks of a Hoffman Estates woman's life.

The mother was home Wednesday evening watching a soap opera with her 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son, and her daughter's 16-year-old boyfriend, when at 8:30 p.m. the kids left their Salem Ridge apartment to run across Bode Rode for treats at 7-Eleven.

Five minutes later the mother got an anguished cell phone call from her daughter.

"She told me they had been shot, and to come running, so I went running," she said. "I didn't know what happened or what I would find."

As the youths crossed Bode and stepped into the 7-Eleven parking lot, at least six shots were fired from a passing vehicle, striking all three.

Her daughter, who was grazed, told her they all fell down but got up quickly and ran into the 7-Eleven. Employees herded them to the back of the store while a customer called 911.

Schaumburg police have made no arrests, but they are investigating whether an altercation earlier in the evening may be connected to the shooting.

Police Chief Brian Howerton said a group of kids from Salem Ridge, including all three victims, returned from a soccer game at Enders-Salk School around 8 p.m. Wednesday and found a young man who didn't live there waiting outside the apartment buildings on a bicycle.

Howerton said there was an altercation, although he wouldn't detail what it was about or if it was physical as well as verbal. He did say several of the kids from Salem Ridge knew him and didn't like him. The chief said members of the group told him to leave, and he did.

Howerton said police don't know yet if the altercation is related to the shootings, which occurred about 30 minutes later.

He added that police are talking to the boy who sparked the argument outside the apartment complex, but that he isn't being held in custody.

The 12-year-old son had the most serious injuries - he was shot in the torso and arm - but his condition improved from critical to serious Thursday and remains so today, said St. Alexius Medical Center spokeswoman Cyndi Alexander.

The 16-year-old boy remains in good condition Friday after being shot in the torso, lower abdomen and leg, said Schaumburg police, who are handling the investigation because the 7-Eleven is on the 900 block of Bode Road in Schaumburg.

Police said they are looking for a gold extended-cab pickup truck. They said it is likely the shooter or shooters have gang affiliations, but the 12- and 14-year-olds do not. Police are still looking into whether the 16-year-old might have gang connections.

Police said they do not yet know the kind of firearm used in the shooting and whether there was more than one shooter.

Schaumburg police Sgt. John Nebl said investigators are questioning witnesses and it was too early Thursday to know what motivated the shooting.

"We are looking at every possibility," he said, adding that by Thursday afternoon police had multiple tips about yellow and gold pickup trucks.

Speaking from her 12-year-old's bedside, where she planned to spend the night, the mother said he was improving. The children's grandfather was pleased with his grandson's progress.

"He can talk now. He's doing better," the grandfather said through an interpreter, adding he didn't know when the kids will be released.

Margaret Chabris, spokeswoman for 7-Eleven, said the Bode Road store has three security cameras, one pointed at the door. They have given police the video, but Chabris is skeptical it will yield much useful information, as the range of the door-pointed camera probably doesn't extend to the street.

The 14- and 16-year-olds have been dating about 10 months, the mother said, and both attend Schaumburg High School. Leanne Fanelli, chairwoman of the English as a Second Language program, has taught the 16-year-old for two years. Students in the program are close-knit and have offered to baby-sit the family's younger son and daughter while they deal with the crisis.

"He is a very loving brother, always talking about his younger siblings," Fanelli said.

The 16-year-old's family arrived from Mexico a couple of years ago, and he has been diligent in improving his language skills, she said. Fanelli said he "has a very strong desire" to be the first in his family to attend college and his parents are very involved in his academic progress.

"He is a wonderful student. I am very fortunate to be his teacher," she said. "I was very sad to not have him in class today."

Edgar Badtista of Elgin was at a restaurant down from the 7-Eleven Thursday, visiting his children who live in the same complex as the victims.

Badtista said the 16-year-old is on a Boy Scout soccer team that Badtista's sister directs.

The 12-year-old is a student in Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54, confirmed spokeswoman Terri McHugh.

Joe Mariano, a manager at Old Town Pizza, said he heard five or six shots fired, but when he looked outside 20 seconds later, the kids were already inside the 7-Eleven and the vehicle had driven off.

While surprised that such young children were victimized, Mariano said the site of a Jan. 6 home invasion in which a suspect shot at a police officer is only a short distance away. And a year or two before, a clerk at the 7-Eleven itself was shot.

"When it happens you go 'ooh,' but it's not like it never happens, because it does," Mariano said.

A cook at the pizzeria, Francisco Chagoya, said the kids are regulars. "It's sad," he said. "It's like they are one of our family."

Kathy Kohlstedt directs a Community Resource Center run by Hoffman Estates in the building where the 12-year-old and 14-year-old live. She doesn't know these particular kids but believes the center has been instrumental in keeping crime low and helping families in the area know each other.

"That's why we need to have programs like this, so we can start working with the kids from a very young age," Kohlstedt said. "I've never seen gang problems. I'm here late at night and I'm never afraid to be here."

Parents picking up children from Helen Keller Junior High School in Schaumburg less than a block from the shooting site reacted with calls for more police protection.

Hoffman Estates resident Karen Doroskin, who was picking up her 13-year-old daughter and her friend, said she had no idea a shooting had occurred. "It's very frightening actually, really creepy."

Her daughter said school officials tried to reassure students that it was safe to go outside.

Schaumburg High School Principal Tim Little said he met with the school's crisis team of counselors, social workers and school psychologist early Thursday. Several students who were struggling with what happened met with crisis team members, he said.

"Obviously, it was hitting pretty close to home," Little said. "They wanted to be reassured. It's a difficult thing for kids at this age."

He is confident about the security of the school with the Schaumburg Police Department headquartered next door and a police officer stationed in the building.

"I think schools are a mirror of the communities they represent," Little said. "There's gang activity in every community and every school. That's something that we realize and address as an issue from time to time. That's not something that we tolerate here in District 211. We deal with that head-on."

The mother of the two younger children shot said she couldn't say if or why her children and their friend might have been targeted, or whether this was a random shooting or a case of mistaken identity.

"I really can't discuss this," she said. "It's a difficult moment for me. I need to think about my son."

• Staff writers Elena Ferrarin, Ashok Selvam, Marco Santana, Madhu Krishnamurthy, Kim Pohl and Matt Arado contributed to this report.