CHICAGO (CBS) — A 20-month-old boy was killed, and his mother was grazed by a bullet, when they were shot while driving home from the laundromat Saturday afternoon in the Englewood neighborhood.
Chicago Police Chief of Operations Fred Waller said, shortly after 2 p.m., the boys’ mother was driving south on Halsted Street on the way home from the laundromat, with the toddler in a child seat in the back of the car, when another car pulled up alongside them, and someone inside started shooting.
The boy was shot once in the chest, and a bullet grazed the mother’s head, according to Waller.
The mother, who is about 22 years old, drove to St. Bernard Hospital, where her son was pronounced dead. She was later transferred to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
“It seems like just yesterday, it was actually last Saturday, I was in front of you all talking about a 3-year-old that was killed in the Austin community, and now here in Englewood, a 20-month-old was killed,” Waller said. “This is happening far too often. Too many times children are killed by senseless violence, and not only just children, but grown-ups also. When is this going to stop? When are we going to say enough is enough?”
Waller said the shooting did not appear to be random. He said detectives were working “feverishly” to review video footage from nearby cameras, and to canvass the area for witnesses.
No weapon has been recovered, but based on the shell casings at the scene, Waller said the shooter was using a handgun.
“No doubt we’ll catch the person who did it. We’ll catch the person who killed that 3-year-old. We’ll catch the person who killed this kid. But that’s not going to bring that kid back, and that’s not going to satisfy that family,” Waller said.
The boy is at least the fifth child under age 10 to be shot in Chicago in the last week-and-a-half, and the second to be killed.
One week ago, 3-year-old Mekhi James was shot and killed while riding in an SUV with his stepfather on the 600 block of North Central Avenue. The 27-year-old stepfather, who police believed to be the target of the shooting, suffered a graze wound to the abdomen and drove to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. Mekhi was pronounced dead at the same hospital.
On June 17, a 9-year-old girl was among four people shot in the 1300 block of West 76th Street in Auburn Gresham. The girl was shot in the right leg and was reported in good condition at the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital. Men ages 31, 25 and 19 were also wounded in that incident.
On June 18, a 5-year-old boy was shot in the buttocks in the 700 block of West 50th Place in Back of the Yards and was taken to a local hospital. A 19-year-old man was also wounded in that shooting.
On Monday, a 3-year-old girl was grazed by a bullet in Chicago Lawn. The girl and a 33-year-old woman were outside a home at 6521 S. Claremont Ave. when someone in a tan vehicle fired shots from inside, police said. The girl was grazed by a bullet and taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition. The woman was not shot.
So far this weekend, since 5 p.m. Friday, at least 19 people have been shot in Chicago, seven of them fatally, including the 20-month-old.
The other fatal shootings include:
- A 42-year-old man who was shot in the Austin neighborhood Friday evening. Police said the victim was on the sidewalk on the 200 block of North Leclaire Avenue around 5:42 p.m. Friday, when someone came out of an alleyway and shot him in the head. The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hosptial, where he was pronounced dead.
- A 33-year-old man who was shot in the Chatham neighborhood Saturday morning. Police said the man walked into a home on the 9300 block of South Lyon Avenue around 6:20 a.m., and began striking children who were in the house. When a female inside the home intervened, he started choking her, and she grabbed a nearby revolver and shot him. The man was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
- A 30-year-old man was shot in the Englewood neighborhood Saturday morning. Police said, around 6:50 a.m., the man was found sitting in a Chevy Tahoe when witnesses heard gunshots, and saw a 2003 Nissan speed away from the scene. The man was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head.
- A 25-year-old man was shot in the Lawndale neighborhood Saturday morning. Police said he was on foot on the 1300 block of South Springfield Avenue around 10:25 a.m., when a silver vehicle drove by, and someone shot him in the left side of the body. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
- A 17-year-old boy was shot in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Saturday morning. Police said he was in a large group of people when he got into an argument with someone who pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
- A male of unknown age was shot in the Brighton Park neighborhood Saturday afternoon. Police said, around 3:50 p.m., officers responded to a call of a person shot on the 4400 block of South Kedzie Avenue, and found the victim with a gunshot wound to his head. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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