15-Year-Old Shot In Mouth In Parking Lot, Arrest Made By Joliet Police

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet Police Department has solved its first shooting of the year, a crime that happened at the former Evergreen Terrace public housing property. The shooting left the victim transferred to Loyola with serious injuries.

According to police spokesman Dwayne English, at 1:24 a.m. Thursday, officers responded to a disturbance in the 400 block of North Hickory Street. While officers were on scene, English said they overheard a single gunshot to the south and began to investigate in the alley.

Moments later, the officers were approached by a 15-year-old boy who appeared to have sustained a gunshot wound to the mouth, English revealed.

From there, the officers summoned an ambulance and provided medical assistance until paramedics arrived. The juvenile victim was rushed by the Joliet Fire Department to St. Joseph Medical Center and later transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries.

As the investigation progressed, officers and detectives canvassed the area and determined the shooting occurred in the parking lot of Riverwalk Homes, near 358 N. Broadway St., following an argument between two teen boys, English said.

Detectives identified another 15-year-old boy as the suspect in the shooting. Around 11 a.m., police said the detectives found him near the Will County Courthouse and took him into custody without incident. During a search, detectives recovered a 9mm handgun from the juvenile’s jacket. The firearm was later determined to be stolen from Country Club Hills, English revealed.

The 15-year-old suspect was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a stolen firearm. He was processed and then transferred to the River Valley Justice Center on Joliet's McDonough Street.