CHICAGO – A 1 year-old died following a double drive-by shooting Saturday afternoon in Englewood.
Just after 2 p.m., police responded to the area of 63rd Pkwy and Halsted on the report of a shooting.
Chicago police said a 1-year-old boy, later identified as Sincere Gaston, and his 22-year-old mother were shot in the 6000 block of South Halsted Street while traveling southbound inside a red Honda Accord. They were headed to the laundromat.
The car has at least four bullet holes on the passenger side and bullet holes through the rear driver’s side window.
Police said the mother and the boy self-transported to St. Bernard Hospital.
“When is this gonna stop? When are we going to say enough is enough? I don’t even have the words for that family… we will catch the person who killed this kid, but it’s not going to bring the kid back,” Chief Waller said.
Police do not believe the shooting was random. At least seven shots were fired into the vehicle, Chief Waller said.
The mother suffered a graze wound to the head. Her condition is not known at this time.
A suspect is not in custody.
Mayor Lightfoot tweeted after the shooting that “the pain of losing a child never goes away.”
Last weekend, a 3-year-old boy was shot and killed in Austin.
The Andrew Holmes Foundation, along with other community activists, have put together at $14,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the killers of the children.
“We have a mother who has to go to the medical examiner’s office and identify this child on a computer screen,” Holmes said. “I said it last week, the shooter, you don’t have a clue what this family is going through.”
The activists said they want fathers to put the word in the street to get the killers behind bars.
“Put the word in the street that this is no longer tolerated, we have been able to help individuals turn themselves in, now is the time,” Wallace Gator Bradley said.
On Sunday morning, activist Early Walker and 16th Ward Ald. Stephanie Coleman announced an additional $25,000 reward for the arrest and charges against the killer. They also are offering a $25,000 reward for the arrest and charges against the killer of 3-year-old Mekhi James in Austin.
“”We have lost ten kids in the last few weeks under the age of ten, something needs to be done and we are putting our money where our mouth is,” philanthropist Early Walker said.
On Friday night, President Trump wrote a letter to Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker asking to help with the city’s violence.
Chicago FOP tweeted Saturday that President Trump was “spot on.”
If you have any information on the shooting, you can leave a tip at cpdtip.com.
