A 7-year-old boy was killed in a shooting near Chicago on Tuesday as authorities searched for the gunman.
According to police officials, officers arrived on the scene in the 2200 block of West Jackson Boulevard and found a boy with a gunshot wound to the chest. They attempted to save the boy’s life and transported him to the hospital in a patrol vehicle.
“His life was taken before he even had a chance to live,” Chicago Police Chief Larry Snelling said at the scene. “But this is unacceptable. We are losing children. We need to take this gun violence that’s happening in our city seriously. We need all of us to step up to fight this gun violence to save our children.”
Police said the boy had left the home to visit a neighbor next door, and as he stepped onto the sidewalk, gunshots rang out from “a fair distance away,” Snelling said.
Chicago couple assaulted by teenagers on date, pregnant wife loses baby after attack
A passerby stands on a street near the scene where a 7-year-old boy was shot and killed in Chicago on Tuesday. (WFLD)
The shooting was indiscriminate, he said.
As of Tuesday, 17 minors had been killed by gun violence in Chicago this year, Snelling said. As of Sunday, Chicago police reported 227 homicides, down from 268 during the same period last year.
Grandmother pleads guilty in shooting deaths of nine people, including a 5-year-old girl, in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend
“We’re not going to let anyone down,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters Tuesday at the scene where a young child was shot and killed. (WFLD)
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was at the scene, said Chicago’s gun violence is directly related to disinvestment in neighborhoods.
“The tragedy we are experiencing today is the direct result of decades of disinvestment,” he said. “There is a direct correlation between disinvestment, poverty and violence.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
“This is not just a response to a tragedy; it is our response to the policies that have created an environment in Chicago where families cannot raise their children in safety,” he added.
On Monday, Johnson announced the creation of a reparations task force to increase investment in areas allegedly affected by systemic racism.
