9-Year-Old Girl Killed, Multiple People Injured in Chicago Mass Shooting Outside Family

A young girl was killed, and multiple other people were injured, during a mass shooting in Chicago — outside of an outdoor family gathering — on Saturday, April 13.

The Chicago Police Department’s Deputy Chief Don Jerome revealed during a press conference hours after the 9:20 p.m. shooting that officers responded to the scene following a ShotSpotter alert of 18 rounds fired in the area. The shooting took place near West 52nd Street and South Damen Avenue.

Jerome said officers discovered “multiple people shot on the block,” and “immediately began doing life-saving measures,” including the use of tourniquets and chest seals.

At the time, it was revealed that eight people total had been shot — including who Jerome described as 5 adults between the ages of 19 and 40, and three children including a one-year-old boy, a seven-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl, whom Jerome said was “shot in the head” and pronounced dead.

The girl has since been identified by her family as nine-year-old Ariana Molina, according to CBS News and ABC affiliate WLS. Both outlets have since noted that the shooting involved an additional 10 injured people, not eight. That list included two men, aged 36 and 38, and five women, between the ages of 19 and 40, as well as three boys aged one, eight and nine.

The Chicago Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for updated information on April 15.

“They had some big assault rifles, I guess, because it was too many shots… they shot my daughter in the head… my wife in the back… me in my leg… my two nephews and a couple more family members,” the girl’s father, Jose Molina, told WLS.

The shooting, according to Jerome, was “not a random act of violence” and was “likely gang-related.” As he explained during the Saturday night press conference, the victims were “standing outside” for a family gathering at the time of the shooting.

“The offender’s actions, make no mistake, are horrific and unacceptable in our city,” he said, requesting that anyone with information contact police.

Police have also shared that a witness saw a black sedan approach the scene before shots were fired, WLS reports.

Jose Molina told WLS that the shooting took place during a party celebrating his sister’s confirmation and that his family was “about to cut the cake when they started shooting from nowhere.” The outlet also noted that all victims, except one, appear to be family members.

“At first I thought it was fireworks, but when I saw my daughter laying down on the floor with a bullet in the head, I realized it wasn’t fireworks,” Molina said. “I tried helping her but it was too late.”

Molina added on April 14 that he hadn’t yet told his wife about Ariana’s death since she was in pain, and he didn’t “want to give her more pain at the moment.”

“She was the best daughter ever… sweet… she loved to play… she was helpful… she was the best,” he said of Ariana.

As of April 14, nobody was in custody and police said there were likely two shooters, per WLS.

In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson wrote that the community was “praying for all victims of yesterday’s shooting.”

“Today we mourn the loss of an 8-year-old girl whose life was tragically taken from her by gang violence,” he wrote. “This heinous and cowardly act of wanton violence that leaves our city mourning children is beyond reprehensible and has no place in our communities.”