For at least the 12th time in a month, a young child was shot in Chicago Thursday evening, this time a 5-month-old boy who was wounded along with two young men on the street in the Old Town neighborhood.
All three were taken to hospitals in good condition, and officers arrested two people after chasing a red Hyundai SUV believed involved in the shooting around 7 p.m. in the 1300 block of North Hudson Avenue, according to Chicago police.
Police said the boy was “resting comfortably” at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he was being treated for a graze wound to the head.
The SUV pulled up in front of the Marshall Field Garden Apartments and someone inside opened fire, police said. It sped off but was spotted on Lake Shore Drive and police began chasing it. The pursuit continued on the Dan Ryan Expressway and ended near 37th Street and Princeton Avenue.
Two men jumped out of the SUV and started running, but police arrested them. Two guns were recovered, according to Chicago police 1st Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter.
“It is quite heartbreaking,” Carter told reporters on the scene. “There’s no regard for anyone’s life, especially that of a child who has yet to grow up and experience this world. It’s quite tragic, what we’re seeing now happening around the country and around the world.”
At least four young children have been shot and killed in Chicago in the last several weeks, including 7-year-old Natalia Wallace on July 4, 10-year-old Lena Nunez on June 28, 1-year-old Sincere Gaston on June 27 and 3-year-old Mekhi James on June 20.