Neighbors say a man who shot and killed an 8-year-old girl Saturday night in Portage Park complained about the child being too loud before shooting her.

The girl was riding her scooter and was with a group of people standing on the sidewalk about 9:40 p.m. in the 3500 block of North Long Avenue when the gunman, who lives in an apartment building across the street, approached them, according to Chicago police.

The man was tackled by the girl’s father, who witnessed the shooting, according to a police report. In the struggle, the gunman was shot above the left eye.

Police said the girl was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital. The gunman was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition. A weapon was recovered at the scene. Charges have not been filed.

Megan Kelley, a neighbor and friend of the girl’s family, said the man had confronted the girl and her father about noise before he attacked her.

“Yesterday when he came out, before he shot her he had said something about them being too loud,” Kelley said Sunday afternoon, adding that it’s not the first time the man had yelled at kids playing outside on the block.

“Just little kids playing, he would come out just yelling about the noise. It just didn’t make sense, none of it made sense,” Kelley said. “Everybody in the community would just tell him they are just kids having fun playing, just let them be.”

Kelley said neighbors tried to avoid the man..

“You kind of just stayed away from him,” Kelley said.

It’s not the first time the family has been affected by gun violence, Kelley said. The girl’s mother was slain in a shooting in 2019.

At the scene Sunday afternoon, wet blood was still visible on the sidewalk hours after the shooting. Red police tape blocked the entrance to the apartment building across the street where the gunman lived.

Detectives could be seen shining their flashlights inside an apartment on the first floor.

Friends of the family placed flowers and stuffed animals at a small but growing memorial for the girl, who they said was full of life.

“She was just an absolutely amazing and beautiful little girl,” Kelley said. “She had her whole life ahead of her.”

James, another neighbor, described the 8-year-old as “daddy’s little girl.” He brought sunflowers and stuffed animals.

She “was always riding around out here back and forth,” said James, who asked that his last name not be used. “She didn’t deserve to go.”