Girl, 8, Who Recently Moved To US From Mexico, Shot Dead In Gang Violence

Melissa Ortega and her mother sprinted towards a nearby bank for safety, but Ortega was struck twice in the head and killed.

An eight-year-old girl who recently moved to Chicago from Mexico was shot dead over the weekend, the latest apparent victim of gang violence in the midwest US city.

Melissa Ortega was walking with her mother in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood Saturday afternoon when gunshots rang out, police said.

The girl and her mother sprinted towards a nearby bank for safety, but Ortega was struck twice in the head and killed.

Police said the gunman's apparent target was a 26-year-old man, a suspected member of the Gangster Two Six street gang, who was hit in the lower back and hospitalized.