A 27-year-old Chicago man is facing an attempted first-degree murder charge after police say he shot a 17-year-old boy in the back last month in the city's Little Village neighborhood. Ricardo Valles was taken into custody Monday, roughly a month after the shooting left the teenager hospitalized.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Valles allegedly shot the teen as he stood near a sidewalk in the 3800 block of West 30th Street at 3:10 p.m. on Sept. 13. The teen was shot in the back and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in good condition, the paper reported. The shooting took place in the South Lawndale section of the neighborhood commonly known as Little Village.
Chicago police identified Valles as the alleged shooter and said he was taken into custody on Monday, according to CBS News Chicago. Valles was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, per the same outlet's report. The Sun-Times reported he was due in court Wednesday as well, consistent with that account.
Charges Described Differently Across Reports
Accounts of the full charges against Valles diverge. The Sun-Times reported that Valles faces attempted first-degree murder along with two counts of aggravated battery through discharge of a firearm and a misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property. CBS News Chicago, citing police, reported that Valles was arrested and charged with felony counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with discharge of a firearm, and aggravated discharge of a firearm from an occupied vehicle. Both outlets agree on the attempted murder charge; the specifics of the remaining counts have not been reconciled publicly.
A Neighborhood That's Seen Repeated Gunfire
This is not the first violent shooting to hit Little Village in recent months. On Aug. 18, a 16-year-old boy was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting in the neighborhood, according to the Chicago Tribune. That boy was outside in the 2600 block of South Hamlin Avenue when a vehicle passed and someone opened fire, striking him in the head and chest; he was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead, with no one initially in custody.
In April, a man was killed and three women were wounded when gunfire struck a group standing near a produce stand at West 26th Street and South St. Louis Avenue, the Tribune reported. Police recovered 27 shell casings from that scene. Just weeks before that, the city had recorded 119 homicides through that Friday, 13 more than the same period the previous year, per the Tribune's reporting at the time.
And in late July, three men were wounded in another drive-by shooting, this one in the 2400 block of South Washtenaw Avenue, when a vehicle pulled up and someone inside opened fire before fleeing, according to the Tribune. One victim, a 27-year-old man, suffered a head wound and was listed in serious condition at Mount Sinai Hospital; a 21-year-old man was also shot in the head and listed in serious condition at Stroger Hospital, while a 22-year-old man suffered a leg wound and was listed in good condition at Mount Sinai.
City data cited in the People's Plan for Community Safety Year One Report noted that two block groups within South Lawndale saw a total of 16 shootings from 2020 through 2023, with rates in some years exceeding the citywide average. The report stated those rates were still lower than some other block groups studied elsewhere in the city.
