Chicago, Jan 24 (AP) An 8-year-old Chicago girl, who was walking with her mother when she was shot in the head and killed by a gunman targeting someone else on the city's Southwest Side, has been identified.

The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the victim on Sunday as Melissa Ortega of Chicago. A police report said she was walking on the street with her mother on Saturday afternoon when someone fired shots at a 26-year-old alleged gang member who was leaving a nearby store, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Police believe he was the intended target.

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The girl was pronounced dead on Saturday at a hospital. The man police believe was the intended target was shot in the back and was hospitalised in critical condition. Authorities did not have an update on his condition on Sunday.

No one was in custody on Sunday in connection with the shooting.

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Police Superintendent David Brown said the department "will not rest until the perpetrators" are brought to justice.

"The tragic and senseless murder of 8-year-old Melissa has shaken our city," he tweeted Sunday. "There are no words of comfort when a child's life is cut short. There are no words that can describe the grief of a family."

The shooting happened amid a spike in homicides in Chicago. Last year was the city's deadliest in a quarter century, with roughly 800 homicides.

Melissa was a student at Emiliano Zapata Academy, an elementary school in the city's heavily-Mexican Little Village neighbourhood, according to the Chicago Teachers Union.

The girl and her mother emigrated to Chicago from Mexico last year, according to family members organising an online effort to pay for the funeral services expected to be held in Mexico. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)