A 2-year-old boy and a 25-year-old man were killed Tuesday in an apparent gang-related shooting on Chicago’s west side.
The man was a known gang member, police said. The 2-year-old, identified as Lavontay White, died shortly after the shooting. A pregnant woman, identified as Lavontay’s aunt and the man’s girlfriend, was shot in the abdomen and is in fair condition, police said. The unborn child was not harmed, police said.
“We have yet another innocent child that can lose (his) life over senseless gun violence,” Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at the scene of the shooting. “I am sick of it, and I know Chicago is sick of it.”
No one is in custody, though Johnson said police were reviewing video surveillance of the area and had good leads on the gunman.
Lavontay was the third child to be killed or gravely injured in shootings in a 72-hour period. On Saturday, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes was shot while sitting in her mother’s car and died on Tuesday; also on Saturday, 12-year-old Kanari Gentry Bowers was shot while playing basketball with friends and remained in critical condition as of Tuesday evening.
“These shootings must be a turning point for our city,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. “Anyone with information about these crimes owes it to the families of these children to come forward.”
“Our children shouldn’t have to keep paying the price of our inability to hold repeat gun offenders accountable for their actions,” Johnson said.
