(WTTW News)
A 1-year-old child was shot in the head following what Chicago police believe was a road-rage incident between two vehicles on Lake Shore Drive on Tuesday morning.
Commander Jake Alderden of the 1st Chicago Police District said Tuesday afternoon that the child remains hospitalized in critical condition following the shooting near Grant Park.
“At this time, it’s very preliminary, but it appears that it was an apparent road-rage incident,” he said during a press briefing at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
One person is currently being questioned in relation to the shooting, police said Tuesday evening.
Chicago police initially said the child is 3 years old. They later revised that to say he is 2 years old, and then again to say he’s 21 months old.
The incident occurred between the 1100 and 900 blocks of South Lake Shore Drive, Alderden said, at approximately 11:07 a.m. Tuesday.
According to police, the child sustained a gunshot wound to the right temple as he was seated in a vehicle heading northbound on Lake Shore Drive. The second vehicle at the scene fled the area following the shooting, police said.
Witnesses told police they heard shots fired. According to Alderden, the vehicle the boy was in then crashed at the intersection of Monroe Street and Lake Shore Drive.
A woman then exited that car with the child and they were taken by a good Samaritan to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to police. The child was then transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital where he remains in critical condition.
Alderden said a handgun was recovered at the scene, as were multiple shell casings.
Police had blocked off northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive after the shooting, but they had reopened it by early Tuesday afternoon.
Area 3 detectives are investigating the shooting, according to police spokesman Tom Ahern.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | (773) 509-5431 | [email protected]
