CHICAGO, IL – A 9-month-old girl is critically wounded and fighting for her life after being shot in the head late Tuesday in Washington Park. Police were questioning a person of interest on Wednesday night in relation to the incident, but details remain scant, and the timeline of the notification is unclear.
The Chicago Police Department stated that it first received a report of the shooting on Wednesday morning. It is believed that the incident occurred at 10:56 p.m. Tuesday on East Garfield Boulevard in Washington Park.
The infant was taken to the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital. Her condition has been reported as critical. Dispatch radiograms suggested that the mother of the baby is the one who took her to the hospital the previous night. According to police radio exchanges, the shooting may have happened inside a car in a McDonald’s parking lot.
During a radio dispatch, a police dispatcher stated, “We just got more information that they left the baby in the car while they went inside the McDonald’s, and when they came back, the baby was shot in the head.”
Community activist Andrew Holmes, who visited the baby in the hospital, expressed concern about the incident, “This baby is fighting for her life – may not make it,” he said, emphasizing the dangers of firearms around children.
As of Wednesday night, both hospital staff and Area 1 detectives were working diligently to piece together the events of the incident. Hospital staff have indicated that HIPAA regulations limit their ability to provide specific updates on the case.