A visibly choked up Mayor Rahm Emanuel addressed the fatal shooting of a 9-year-old boy in Chicago Monday, saying this latest tragedy in Chicago violence is proof that there's evil in the world.
"Whoever did this, I want to say something," Emanuel said Tuesday. "I believe fundamentally in the goodness of human nature, but there is evil in the world. Whoever did this, there is a special place for them. I hope they never see freedom. I hope they never see daylight."
The mayor appeared at a groundbreaking on a new hotel near Midway International Airport and took questions following the event. After addressing the shooting that left 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee dead in an alleyway, Emanuel walked away and took no further questions.
Emanuel also asked anyone who knows information about the shooting to come forward, saying it's a "moral responsibility."
"I think anybody that knows who this is, you don't have a financial reward — you have a moral responsibility," Emanuel said. "This person is not an individual. They're not a human being. Because when you've done what you did to a 9-year-old, there's a place for you, and there's no humanity in that place."
Tyshawn, a fourth grader at Scott Joplin School, was fatally shot in an alley in the Gresham neighborhood while still wearing his school uniform late Monday afternoon. Sources say the young boy may have been targeted. The boy was in the alleyway near his grandmother's home around 4:15 p.m. when he was shot multiple times in the head and back, police said.
Tyshawn's mother, Karla Lee, spoke to the public in an emotional plea to stop the gun violence Tuesday.
"Please put the guns down, please," Lee said. "They're taking too many young lives, please. I'm only 26, this is my only baby, my only baby, and now he's gone."
Chief of Detectives Constantine "Dean" Andrews said at a Monday night press conference they don't know if Tyshawn was hit by stray bullets or if he was targeted. They do know, however, that a group of people had previously been in the alley where his body was found when an argument broke out and someone started shooting. Afterwards, the group fled the scene.
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Sources said authorities are working on two theories surrounding the boy's killing. One theory is that Tyshawn was walking through the alley when he got caught in the middle of an argument. A second theory is that the boy was the intended target in the shooting.
Anyone with information about the incident should call (312) 747-8271.
