CHICAGO, IL – Chicago officials are calling for justice after a 7-year-old boy was tragically shot and killed in an apparent random shooting incident. The town’s mayor and the police superintendent echoed the city’s outrage over the heartbreaking incident filling the neighborhoods.
The boy was hit by bullets when he stepped onto the sidewalk from his apartment to visit a neighbor, an occasion turned tragic by a gunman who has yet to be identified.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling recounted the incident during a press briefing, noting the unexpected nature of the attack and the considerable distance from which the shots originated. The shooter’s intended target is yet to be identified, he added.
First responders at the scene took immediate action, applying direct pressure to the boy’s chest wound before rushing him to the hospital in their squad car. However, condolences poured in following his pronounced death at the hospital.
Snelling, visibly upset about the heartbreaking incident, implied an urgent need for societal reflection on the continuing violence against children. The sorrowful fact that the victim was one of 127 children who have been caught in gun-related violence this year appears to add a disturbing context to the incident. With 17 children dead due to gun violence this year alone, Snelling vowed for justice and an end to the violence.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson voiced his grief over the continuing violence plaguing the city, characterizing it as reaching a breaking point.
The rising death toll feeds into an unpleasant picture, with 227 murders and 961 shooting incidents clocked in the city this year, according to local police data. Notably, despite this surge in criminal activity, year-to-date shooting incidents show an 8% reduction compared to the previous year.