HARVEY, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Harvey police are offering a little new information about the shooting death of a 2-year-old girl Thursday night, as an investigation continues.
Harvey Police Chief Joseph Moseley said 2-year-old Majestee Hale was shot in the head and killed in her home on 153rd and Lexington around 7:15 p.m. Thursday night.
“The child and the father were transported to Ingalls Hospital via squadrol. The child was in the father’s arms,” the chief said at a news conference Friday morning outside the Harvey Police Department.
Chief Moseley said the shooting was not a drive-by and “the scene was contained to the house.” He said there was at least one other child in the home at the time. Chief Moseley would not discuss anything further, including whether a gun was recovered. He did however say that he does not believe there is any other danger to the community.
“We do not believe there’s any other danger to the community at this point, and because this is an active investigation, I’m not able to discuss any suspects or persons of interest," Chief Moseley said.
A statement was released Thursday night by Harvey police echoing that saying, “we are heartbroken that violence on the streets took the life of one of our innocent children and will be working with the proper law enforcement agencies to bring the responsible parties to justice."
Harvey City Administrator Timothy Williams said the shooting highlights the need the city has for a federal grant to be able to hire more police officers. Without saying how many officers are in the Harvey PD, Williams said he believes the city needs twice as many officers as it has.
“When our officers are going to the scene, there’s other areas of the city that need support, as well. So, we were happy to get the assistance from Cook County, from the Illinois State Police, and from the neighboring communities and that’s what the south suburbs do, but we certainly want to fortify and support our own force here," he said.
Still, Williams insisted that Thursday night, “the rest of the town was safe. This was an isolated incident and the rest of the town was safe.”
He went on to say that this shooting incident was a "tragedy" and the city is "heartbroken."
Majestee Hale had turned 2-years old last month.
A police source said police had been to the home on 153rd and Lexington before, but Chief Moseley would not address that.
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