Melissa Ortega, 8, was fatally shot while running with mother from hail of bullets aimed at known gang member: police report

Melissa Ortega, 8, was killed when she was struck by a stray bullet Saturday in Little Village.

At the scene, investigators found over a dozen 9mm shell casings.

Melissa Ortega was walking with her mother in Little Village Saturday afternoon when a gunman emerged from a nearby alley and opened fire, unleashing a hail of bullets that fatally struck the 8-year-old girl twice in the head and wounded a gang member who was the intended target, a police report shows.

About 2:55 p.m., Melissa and her mother were walking east on 26^th Street near Pulaski Road when the gunfire erupted, according to the internal report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

After reviewing surveillance video, investigators determined that a male dressed in all black had stepped out of an alley near 26^th Street and Komensky Avenue before firing at a 26-year-old man who was identified in the report as a member of the Gangster Two Six street gang. As the man started running east on 26^th Street, the shooter continued to unload, according to the report.

A police source said the motivation of the shooting is still unclear but noted the victim’s gang has been feuding with both the Latin Saints and Latin Kings.

When the shots rang out, Melissa’s mother recalled running toward a bank when she felt her daughter “go limp,” according to the report. That’s when she realized Melissa had been shot twice in the right side of her head.

After officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert and found Melissa at the corner of 26^th and Pulaski, paramedics responded and brought her to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead less than two hours later, according to the report and an official statement from Chicago police.

The intended target, who has been arrested 13 times and convicted of two felonies, was struck twice in the back, the report states. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, police said.

The shooter ran south on Komensky Avenue, according to the report.

At the scene, investigators found over 13 9mm shell casings, one fired bullet and two bullet fragments, the report states. They also obtained video footage from a police POD camera and a private camera.

Melissa was a student at Zapata Academy in the neighborhood, the Chicago Teachers Union said.

“This suffering is becoming too familiar for our babies and their families, who our educators love, nurture and support,” the union wrote in a post on Twitter. “Wishing Melissa’s family and Zapata community peace and healing tonight.”

A GoFundMe page had raised more than $24,000 by Sunday afternoon with a $20,000 goal to help Melissa’s family pay for funeral expenses and bury her in her hometown in Mexico.

Melissa’s family could not immediately be reached.

“They were both excited to start a new life in Chicago and build their American Dream. I was honored to have met Melissa and will always remember her beautiful smile,” the page’s organizer wrote.

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown released a statement Sunday morning on Twitter, calling the fatal shooting an “unthinkable tragedy.”

“The tragic and senseless murder of 8-year-old Melissa has shaken our city,” Brown wrote on Twitter. “There are no words of comfort when a child’s life is cut short. There are no words that can describe the grief of a family. CPD will not rest until the perpetrators are brought to justice.

Fear and violence, guns and gangs have no place in this city, and it will take all of us working together to stop it. If you have any information about this senseless crime, please call our anonymous tip line: 833-408-0069. Eligible tips can receive a reward of up to $15,000.

— Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown (@ChiefDavidBrown) January 23, 2022

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also posted to Twitter Sunday, calling on people with information to come forward to police and not take matters into their own hands.

“Do not compound one tragedy with a series of others,” the mayor wrote. “In this time of grief, promote peace, not more violence.”

There is a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to arrest in the case and up to $15,000 for a conviction, according to Lightfoot and Brown.

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