Teen Girl Survives Bullet Through Head

A 15-year-old Chicago girl who was shot in the head outside her Far South Side home Wednesday as she shielded a younger relative from gunfire has come through surgery, a relative said Thursday morning.

"Apparently she had a bullet that went through her head and directly out," said her aunt, Vernetta Swain.

Taccara Swain was struck by three bullets as she reached down to pick up her 2-year-old cousin to carry her up the stairs. 

Her relatives are hoping and praying that the Julian High School student will survive and recover from the shooting on the 11000 block of South Normal Avenue, though she may eventually be required to undergo speech therapy.

"It's only God's will. I guess he just want to say that it's not her time to go, so if she has to go through speech therapy or anything like that, we just got to do what it takes," said friend and classmate Tori Parks.

Swain was not the intended target for the bullet. Police said there an argument between the people in two vehicles resulted in gunfire.

"At first, it sounded like a firecracker. There were too many coming too fast," said Claudia Lanfair, who lives nearby. "I’m like, ‘That’s no firecracker.'"