'Several people' injured in Chicago shooting: police

CHICAGO - Agence France-Presse

Police investigate the scene in Cornell Square Park on the Southside where 11 people including a three-year-old child were shot on September 19, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. AFP photo

A late night shooting on a basketball court has left several people wounded in Chicago, President Barack Obama's adopted hometown that has been struggling to stem gang violence, police said.
 
The Chicago Tribune newspaper reported that 12 people were shot in all, including a three-year old who one witness said was hit in the face, in the shooting on a basketball court at a South Side Chicago park.
 
A police dispatcher told AFP that "there were several people shot" in the incident at around 10:15 pm (0315 GMT Friday).
 
"Basically, there have been no fatalities reported and there is no one in custody at this time, the dispatcher said.
 
The Tribune said the wounded were being treated at area hospitals.
 
Three of the gunshot victims, including the child, were in serious-to-critical condition, the Chicago Fire Department told the Tribune.
 
The shooting comes as Chicago struggles to stem an epidemic of gang violence that helped push the city's murder rate up 16 percent to 506 people last year.
 
Gun violence in the city has continued at a slower but still-brisk pace this year.
 
President Barack Obama returned to his adopted hometown earlier this year to appeal for an end to the "senseless" gun violence ravaging Chicago as he pressed for ambitious gun control measures, which so far have been stalled in the US Congress.