CHICAGO _ A 1-year-old boy remained on life support Friday morning after he was shot in his grandmother's SUV while sitting in the back seat with his brother and another young boy, according to family and Chicago police.
The grandmother had been dropping someone off at a home in the 9900 block of South Throop Street around 5:30 p.m. Thursday when a dark sedan pulled up and as many as eight shots were fired, according to chief police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
The grandmother checked inside the car and saw that the boy, identified by family as Dijon Walker, had been shot. She drove to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where the boy was transferred to Comer Children's Hospital in "very critical" condition, police said.
"He's on life support and it doesn't look good," the boy's grandfather, Melvin Freeman, told reporters outside the hospital. "He was just a baby."
Two other boys, 4 and 5, were in the back seat and Djon's mother was in the front passenger seat, but none of them were injured, family said.
The passenger side of the SUV had at least eight bullet holes, marked with stickers by evidence technicians. Detectives were still investigating the motive, but Guglielmi said the shooter may have mistaken the car for someone else's.
No one was in custody.
Freeman said his grandson went by the name Chase. "He was walking, he was a fun baby," he said. "He made your day.
"We need to put these guns down," he continued. "The summer is coming, we need to put them down. Our babies are dying. We need to stop doing this, could we please put these guns down and let these babies live? Let these babies live."
