A group of teenagers were shot at with a BB gun from a passing car Wednesday evening while outside Washington Elementary School — one of four similar instances that same night.

Among the group of kids, all between 13 and 14 years old, one was hit with a BB gun pellet but was not injured, said Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan. They reported to police that the shots came from the back seat of a dark gray SUV at about 7:15 p.m., while they were outside the school at 914 Ashland Ave.

At a similar time, a 45-year-old Evanston woman was pulling her 3-year-old child out of her car in the 1000 block of Dodge Avenue when she was shot at multiple times with a paintball gun from a car heading northbound, Dugan said. The woman was not seriously injured.

Less than an hour later, an Evanston man was shot in the eye with a paintball gun from a passing vehicle. The 48-year-old Evanston resident was walking with his wife just before 7:40 p.m. in the 1600 block of Emerson Street when a white car drove by and someone inside shot at the couple several times with a paintball gun, Dugan said. The man went to Evanston Hospital with an injury to his left eye and was also hit in the back and left arm. The woman, 37, was hit in the head and back but was not injured.

At a similar time Wednesday night, a 45-year-old bicyclist was riding near the intersection of Dempster Street and Asbury Avenue, when he was shot at multiple times with a paintball gun from a white vehicle, Dugan said. The Evanston man had no serious injuries.

Man charged with child endangerment

An Evanston man was charged with endangerment to the health of a child on Tuesday afternoon after police found him in a car with alcohol and marijuana while a 6-year-old was present.

Police were stationed in an empty lot in the 2000 block of Jackson Avenue following complaints of drug deals in the location, when the officers approached a parked car and smelled marijuana smoke, Dugan said. The officers found two men and a 6-year-old child in the car, along with an open bottle of alcohol and a hand-rolled cigar filled with what officers suspected to be marijuana.

One of the men, a 34-year-old Evanston resident, had been babysitting the 6-year-old boy while his mother — the man’s girlfriend — was at work, Dugan said. The man was arrested and charged with child endangerment. Police also found in the man’s pocket a prescription drug pill, which has been sent to the lab for tests.

Dugan said neither of the men were charged with marijuana possession because of the small amount present and the more serious potential drug charge. The other man present in the car was given a ticket for possession of an open container of alcohol.

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