By Monday afternoon, a GoFundMe campaign set up to help with the burial costs of an 8-year-old girl who was tragically shot over the weekend in Chicago had raised more than $55,000.

A Chicago police officer has officially named Melissa Ortega as the teenager who was killed by gunshots in the city's Little Village neighborhood on Saturday afternoon. When Ortega and her mother were going through the neighborhood, an anonymous gunman walked up to them and started firing. According to a police report acquired by WLS-TV in Chicago, Ortega was struck in the head.

Girl died of stray bullet in Chicago grocery

It was about 2:55 pm. According to an internal investigations, Ortega and her mother were heading east on 26th Street near Pulaski Road on Saturday when gunshots erupted. A 26-year-old guy whom authorities identified as a member of the Gangster Two Six gang was also hurt in the incident. 

Based on a tweet issued by the Chicago Teachers Union on Saturday, Ortega was a student at Zapata Academy. After learning about the saddening news, Norma Sandoval, who knew Ortega and "will always remember her wonderful smile," headed the fundraiser, as per Newsweek.

According to Sandoval who set up the GoFundMe campaign, Ortega and her mother immigrated to the United States from Mexico last summer and were "eager to start a new life in Chicago and pursue their American Dream." The purpose of the drive was to earn $20,000 for Ortega's funeral expenses.

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Investigators discovered that a guy in all black walked out of an alley around 26th Street and Komensky Avenue before firing at a 26-year-old man who was described in the report as a member of the Gangster Two Six street gang after analyzing security video. According to the allegation, the gunman continued to unload as the guy began to flee east on 26th Street.

The motive for the shooting is still unknown although the victim's gang has been warring with both the Latin Saints and the Latin Kings, according to a police source. According to the story, Ortega's mother recalls racing toward a bank when she felt her daughter "become limp" after the guns rang out. She knew the child had been shot twice in the right side of her skull at that point.

According to the report, the intended target, who has been jailed 13 times and convicted of two crimes, was struck twice in the back. According to the report, the gunman went south on Komensky Avenue. Investigators discovered over 13 9mm round casings, one discharged bullet, and two bullet fragments at the site.

On Monday morning, Chicago police announced that extra resources have been deployed in the region and that a thorough strategy has been devised to combat the gang war that led to the girl's murder with determination, according to ABC7 News. With about 800 killings last year, it was the bloodiest in a quarter-century. According to local accounts, the boy was wounded in the head as a suspect fired rounds at a 26-year-old accused gang member who was exiting a neighboring business.

The man authorities suspect was the intended target was shot in the back and is currently in serious condition at a local hospital. In connection with the incident, no one was in jail as of Sunday. According to shocking statistics, there were at least 797 killings in Chicago in 2021, up 25 from 2020 and 299 from 2019. Last year, there were over 3,500 shootings in the United States, a little more than 300 higher than in 2020.

Travell Miller, a 33-year-old single father who was slain in September while driving his seven-year-old daughter to school, was one of the victims. According to police statistics, New York and Los Angeles had 300 fewer homicides than Chicago, The Sun reported.

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