Police seek public help after 3 children die in shootings across Chicago

Shootings across Chicago over the weekend have left three children dead, including a 10-year-old girl who was struck in the head by a stray bullet that came through an apartment window.

The Saturday night death was among at least 10 shooting fatalities since Friday evening, which follow a deadly Father's Day weekend and fresh concerns about a violent summer ahead.

Earlier on Saturday, a 1-year-old boy was killed and his mother injured when a gunman opened fire on their vehicle.

And a 17-year-old died at a hospital after he got into an altercation and someone fired shots.

"The pain of losing a child never goes away,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Saturday on Twitter.

"As a mother, I am tired of the funerals. I am tired of burying our children."

Her office didn't immediately have further comment on Sunday.

A recent spate of shootings in Chicago and other cities have had authorities on edge.

Experts say non-suicidal gun deaths are on track to top last year.

The news comes as the American public is dealing with the stress of the coronavirus pandemic and economic fallout, divisions over racial justice and policing, and heightened political divisions of a presidential election year.

The 10-year-old girl died at a hospital after the shooting in the Logan Square neighbourhood northwest of downtown around 9:40 pm, according to police spokesman Roberto Garduno.

Preliminary information showed the gunfire came from a group of males who had been shooting at each other on the block, he said.

No one was in custody on Sunday.

Earlier Saturday in the Englewood neighbourhood on the city's South Side, a 1-year-old boy who was riding in the back of a car driven by his mother was shot when someone opened fire from another car.

The mother suffered a graze wound to the head. The boy was identified as Sincere A. Gaston.

Police said the motive for the shooting was unclear.

Superintendent David Brown pleaded with the public for someone to come forward with details.

"We ALL need to be outraged by the violence we are seeing in our city,” he said in a statement.

"This baby, and all of our residents, deserve better. This is not just a problem that Englewood needs to solve. This is not just a problem on the South Side or the West Side. We cannot compartmentalise the violence that is tearing families and communities apart.”

His office didn't immediately have further comment Sunday.

The 17-year-old, identified as Antiwon Douglas, was killed around 11:30 am on Saturday.

Police said he got into a fight and someone from a large crowd that was gathered in the Humboldt Park neighbourhood on the city's West Side fired shots.

Over Father’s Day weekend, 14 people, including five children, were killed and more than 100 people were shot, marking the city’s highest number of shooting victims in a single weekend this year.

Associated Press