A Chicago man was charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of a 9-year-old girl this past weekend in the city's Portage Park neighborhood, according to authorities.
Michael Goodman, 43, faces a charge of first-degree murder for the shooting death of 9-year-old Serabi Medina, who was fatally shot on Saturday night, police said.
A neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous for safety concerns, told NBC Chicago he saw the girl riding her scooter moments before the shooting happened at around 9:20 p.m. in the 3500 block of North Long Avenue.
"I had seen people yelling and the father was in the street yelling - it was, it was just chaos," the neighbor said.
After the shooting, the gunman was tackled by the girl's father and shot during a struggle, according to a police report. He was taken to a hospital.
"[The father] ran all the way over there, football tackled this guy and that weapon discharged," community activist and crisis responder Andrew Holmes said.
Goodman, the alleged gunman, reportedly shot the young girl in the head because he was upset over noise, witnesses said.
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"It just didn’t make sense. None of it made sense,” a neighbor, Megan Kelley, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Everybody in the community would just tell him they are just kids having fun playing. Just let them be.”
Holmes said he spoke to the child's father, who said she "just loved to go to school."
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“With great sadness, we are devastated at the loss of another young life," Chicago Public Schools said in a statement.
