Chicago police are investigating after a bullet Wednesday evening came through the window of a Humboldt Park home, striking and killing a 7-year-old boy inside.
The boy was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition where he underwent surgery in an attempt to save his life. Several hours later, the victim was pronounced dead.
According to officials, Chicago police received a call at 8:22 p.m. of shots fired in the 2600 block of West Potomac Avenue.
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Upon arriving at the residence, police discovered a 7-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
According to a family member, the victim was washing his hands inside the home's bathroom when a bullet went through the window, striking the child once in the stomach.
"It's tragic. Any person that's shot in the city is tragic. When it's a young child like this, an innocent child, allegedly under the safety of their own home, it's direly tragic, something that we take seriously," Deputy Chief Ron Pontecore said in an update Wednesday. "We're going to deploy a lot of resources to the area to try and get to the bottom of this and find out who is responsible for this."
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According to officials, multiple shell casings were found in an alley behind the home. Police say they do not believe anyone inside the home was the intended target.
"My son plays with the little boy that ended up getting shot," a neighbor said Wednesday. "I mean, we have the kids outside all the time. They play with each other in the backyard all the time."
No suspects are in custody, and an investigation is in its early stages.
“Own up to what you did," Pontecore said, calling on the suspect to come forward. "This child was in his own home. Do the right thing and turn yourself in.”
According to reporting from the Chicago Sun-Times, nearly 300 children have been shot in Chicago in 2022. Of those, authorities say more than 40 have been killed.
