CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A 1-year-old boy remains in critical condition after he was shot in the head late Tuesday morning while riding in a car on Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park.
According to Chicago police, the shooting followed a dispute over one car not letting another car into a lane of traffic around 11 a.m. Tuesday on northbound Lake Shore Drive just south of Soldier Field.
Both cars continued north and shooting began on Lake Shore Drive just west of the Shedd Aquarium. Bullet casings were recovered over a two-block stretch as the cars proceeded north, police said. The vehicle the child was in crashed at Monroe Street and Lake Shore Drive.
Witnesses said a woman in the car got out with the child and both were driven to Northwestern Memorial Hospital by a Good Samaritan.
The boy, who was shot in the temple, was transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
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“The 21-month-old who sustained a gunshot wound to his head yesterday, April 6, 2021, on Lake Shore Drive remains in critical condition in Lurie Children’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU),” the hospital said in a statement Wednesday morning. “Our PICU team is working around the clock on his care.”
There was early confusion over the child’s exact age; the hospital statement described him as “nearly 2” years old.
A handgun was recovered from an occupant of the crashed vehicle, though police couldn’t immediately say if it was used in the shooting or if it was possessed legally.
A bullet hole could be seen in the rear passenger window of the crashed vehicle. Northbound Lake Shore Drive was closed until about 1:30 p.m. as police investigated.
Charges were still pending against someone arrested Tuesday evening in connection to the incident, Chicago police said Wednesday.
Mayor Lightfoot lamented the prevalence of guns in Chicago and how easy they were to attain over state lines.
“It’s mind boggling to me people carry guns… and that they use them when children are in that proximity,” Lightfoot said.
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