Authorities have charged a 14-year-old boy with attempted murder and aggravated battery in the shooting of a boy two years his junior in front of a South Side Chicago school.
After school let out at Cook Elementary Tuesday afternoon, the 14-year-old allegedly fired four shots from a revolver at the 12-year-old, hitting him once in the back. The shots were fired into a crowd of students being dismissed for the day, sending hundreds of children running and screaming.
But authorities believe the shooting wasn't random. Instead, according to ABC-7, the two youths were allegedly involved in an argument on Facebook. The boys, who were apparently members of rival gangs, posted threats on each other's profile pages, which police believe prompted the shooting.
The victim was in stable condition at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, but already, friends were posting on his Facebook wall vowing revenge against the shooter, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. "One post on the victim’s Facebook said they would 'ride back down' on the shooter and his friends," the paper reports.
The suspect was ordered held until his next hearing by a juvenile court on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.