16-year-old charged with attempted murder in Glendale Heights shooting

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder in a gang-related shooting in Glendale Heights.

Bail was set at $500,000 Friday morning for Nathen Gaytan, of the 3600 block of West 199th Street, Alsip. He is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm. He automatically was charged as an adult.

Assistant State's Attorney Claudia Fantauzzo told Judge John Kinsella that at 8:27 p.m. Aug. 12, a man and a woman were walking near a 7-Eleven store when Gaytan and another person approached them.

They got into an argument, and Gaytan and the other male flashed gang signs and lifted their shirts to display guns in their waistbands. According to Fantauzzo, the male victim, 20, then said, "If you are going to shoot, then shoot."

Gaytan and the other person pointed the guns at the couple, then left. They then returned in a white SUV, and Gaytan got out and fired nine shots, Fantauzzo said. She said the SUV belongs to a known gang member.

The 23-year-old woman was hit in an arm, shattering a bone, and in a thigh. Another bullet grazed the pants of the male victim, Fantauzzo said.

The shooting happened near Morse Lane and Whitman Drive.

Fantauzzo requested bail be set at $2.5 million. She said Gaytan has pending cases in juvenile court from September 2021 and March.

Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Maples said the teen is not in school, lives with his girlfriend and her mother, and works at a Taco Bell. She requested $100,000 bail.

To be freed pretrial, Gaytan would have to post $50,000.