Baby shot, critically wounded in parked car in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) — A 1-year-old boy who was shot in the head as he sat in the back seat of his grandmother’s SUV on Thursday evening on Chicago’s South Side was in critical condition and had been placed on life support, police said Friday.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officers were collecting footage from surveillance cameras in the area where the boy was shot in the hopes of identifying the gunman who fired as many as eight shots. He said the grandmother did not see the gunman or get a good look at the vehicle the shots came from, explaining that she only realized her grandson had been shot when she turned at the sound of glass breaking from a window.
Guglielmi said police believe the gunman inside a dark sedan may have been trying to shooting at the boy’s mother, who was also in the car. Earlier in the day, he said police thought the gunman may have mistaken the SUV for another vehicle but later said detectives suspect the mother was the target.
Police said the mother, grandmother and two other children in the SUV were not injured. Police have not released the name of the boy or others in the vehicle.
On Friday, the boy’s grandfather told reporters outside Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park that the boy had been placed on life support. “It doesn’t look good,” said Melvin Freeman. “He was just a baby.”
Freeman, who told reporters that his grandson was a “fun baby” who had begun walking, pleaded for a halt to gun violence that has plagued parts of the city. “Could we please put these guns down and let these babies live?” he asked.
On Friday, police said no arrests had been made and no suspects had been identified.
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