4-year-old boy recovering from surgery after shooting in Humboldt Park, alderman says

A 4-year-old boy was recovering from surgery Wednesday after he was critically injured in a shooting crossfire in a bustling section of the Humboldt Park neighborhood the day before, according to a local alderman. 

The boy was riding in a car when he was struck in the back about 3:50 p.m. Tuesday in the 3300 block of West North Avenue, Chicago police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.

A police spokesperson said Wednesday that they haven’t made any arrests and detectives were still investigating. 

Ald. Jessie Fuentes, 26th, told the Tribune Wednesday morning that the boy was in a vehicle driven by his grandmother on the way to get a treat at Dunkin’. Their car was “caught in the crossfire,” Fuentes said, when someone in a black Infiniti fired shots at a light-colored SUV. The boy suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen, but his grandmother wasn’t injured, she said. 

“The grandmother was extremely brave because she acted quickly,” Fuentes said. “She did not freeze. She rushed him to St. Mary’s Hospital, where they were able to stabilize him before transferring him to Stroger, a trauma center, to undergo surgery.” 

“That grandmother quite literally saved that young man’s life,” Fuentes added.

Fuentes said the boy was still in critical condition after surgery Tuesday night, but that his condition had stabilized. 

Some employees on West North Avenue said they were shaken up after the shooting, especially because the street is relatively busy with foot traffic at restaurants and other stores in the middle of the day. Fuentes said many of the businesses want to be helpful and “part of the solution.” 

“We’re going to be working on making sure we continue to do safety walks, that we’re enhancing programming in the community,” she said. “We are working on organizing a peace march in the community, as well as having violence prevention organizations mediate any gang tension that there may be that contributed to yesterday’s events.”

Fuentes asked people with information about the shooting to contact the 14th Police District CAPS office at 312-744-8290 or CAPS.014District@chicagopolice.org. 

rjohnson@chicagotribune.com