Shooting along Mexican Independence Day parade route injures one

The Mexican Independence Day parade held Sept. 14 in Joliet was marred by violence near the parade route.

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg during an apparent confrontation just before 2 p.m. near Collins Street and Elwood Avenue, Joliet police said.

The 57th annual Mexican Independence Day Parade had begun its route down Collins Street about an hour before the shooting.

Surveillance video released by Joliet police shows three young men scrambling away from the east side of Collins Street - one of whom appears to fire at the teen who is running into the door of a nearby store. The shooter then runs through an alley.

No other pedestrians were on the street, but several southbound cars were stopped in traffic nearby, according to the video.

The suspect was a white or Hispanic man with a thin build. He was wearing a black t-shirt with white lettering and blue jeans.

The victim was struck in the calf and his injury was not life-threatening, police said.

On Sept. 15, a woman wrote posts on the Joliet Police Facebook page identifying the victim as her son and saying he was targeted by a "gangbanger" while he was leaving the parade. The woman said her house has been shot at several times over the last year.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at (815) 724-3020 or anonymously call CrimeStoppers at (800) 323-6734.