Doctors said Thursday they are "optimistic" as the 21-month-old injured in a road rage shooting on Lake Shore Drive earlier this week sees a return in some brain activity.
Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, associate chief medical officer and medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Lurie Children's Hospital, said Kayden Swann is making "some recovery as he is demonstrating some return in brain activity."
"While it is still very early to make any meaningful prediction about his total recovery, we are optimistic about the clinical signs we are seeing," Malakooti said in a statement. "We are still in an essential time window to gauge what the path ahead shows however, and he remains in critical condition in our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Swann was riding in a car that was involved in an alleged road rage incident on the roadway Tuesday morning. Police believe that a person in another vehicle began firing shots at the car that Swann was in, with the gunfire continuing for several blocks.
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Eventually the car crashed near Monroe and Lake Shore Drive after Swann was shot in the temple. He was taken by a Good Samaritan to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The boy was then transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he remains in the pediatric intensive care unit.
As of Thursday, doctors said that Swann was in a medical coma and remained on a ventilator at the hospital.
According to authorities, a person of interest was being questioned by police in connection with the shooting. Local activist Ja’Mal Green offered a $5,000 reward in connection to the case, and says he has received numerous tips.
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“I’ve committed to pay half down for an arrest, or for an arrest and charges,” he said. “The other half will be paid if he’s convicted.”
Jushawn Brown, 43-year-old from Englewood, has been charged with a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, police said.
