A toddler shot in the head during a road rage incident on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive is breathing on his own and has been moved out of intensive care, a doctor said Monday.
Kayden Swann, now 22 months old, has made “remarkable progress,” said Dr. Marcelo Malakooti of Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. He said he is optimistic about Kayden's recovery and that he could leave the hospital “very soon.”
“This is very good news both for Kayden and his family and also for us as we continue to wrestle with persistent incidents of gun violence in our city,” Malakooti said. "The family, as you can imagine, is very happy with this news. They've remained at his bedside, very hopeful, and they could not be more thrilled with his recovery."
Kayden was riding in a car driven by his grandfather when the shooting occurred near Grant Park on April 6. Police have said one driver would not let another enter a lane of traffic, and someone in another vehicle shot at Swann's grandfather's vehicle. Kayden was shot in the temple, and the vehicle crashed.
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A woman jumped out of the car with the child and someone drove them to Northwestern Memorial Hospital before the boy was transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital.
The person who shot Kayden has not been arrested. The boy's grandfather was later charged with felony use of, and possession of, a firearm. Prosecutors say he does not have a valid FOID card or a valid concealed carry license.
Chicago has seen an increase in shootings so far this year compared with 2020, which was the deadliest year in all but one year in the previous two decades. More than 700 people were shot in the city during the first three months of this year, more than 200 more than in the same period in 2020, according to police data.
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Among the most recent victims is a 7-year-old girl who was fatally shot Sunday while in a car with her father in a McDonald's parking lot on Chicago's West Side.
