Unrelated Schaumburg shootings still under investigation

A 12-year-old Hoffman Estates boy was upgraded to good condition Friday after being wounded in a drive-by shooting in front of a strip mall on the 900 block of Bode Road in Schaumburg March 10.

His 14-year-old sister and her 16-year-old boyfriend were previously treated and released.

Police continue to look for a gold extended-cab pickup truck used by the shooter and to investigate a possible link to a boy involved in an altercation with the victims half an hour earlier.

In an unrelated Schaumburg hotel shooting March 16, 28-year-old Kristian Branch of Elgin remains in jail on a $3 million bond, charged with first-degree murder after her accomplice, 29-year-old Mario C. Charles of Rockford, was killed by gunfire during an attempted armed robbery.

The 26-year-old St. Paul, Minn., man who actually shot Charles, apparently in self-defense, remains hospitalized and no charges have been filed against him.

Police Chief Brian Howerton addresses the two incidents in a letter to Schaumburg residents being distributed this weekend on the village's Web site and through its e-newsletter, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

In addition to providing a thorough explanation of both shootings, Howerton wrote that they come just after a year that boasted the lowest crime rate in the village for 34 years.

The 2009 crime rate in Schaumburg was 3,794 incidents per 100,000 residents, significantly below the trendline published in the Illinois State Police publication, "Crime in Illinois."

"When a crime such as a shooting occurs in a normally safe community such as ours, the reaction by some is to perceive a heightened sense of fear as a result of these isolated incidents," Howerton wrote.

"I want to emphasize that crimes of violence in our community will not be tolerated," he added. "We will continue to do what we can to prevent these crimes from occurring. When they do occur, we will respond quickly, take immediate action, and conduct complete and thorough investigations."