BOY’S MOM ‘ IN SHOCK’
Activist pleads for footage of fatal shooting of 9- year- old; 10 killed in weekend shootings
A mother’s eyes are swollen shut from crying after the fatal shooting of a 9- year- old boy in the East Side neighborhood on the Far South Side, a community activist said.
Gustavo Garcia was in an SUV with a 31- year- old man at 11: 13 p. m. Friday, traveling west in the 3500 block of East 97th Street, when a gray car pulled up next to them and someone inside opened fire, authorities said.
The boy was shot in the back and taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he died, authorities said. He lived in the South Chicago neighborhood. Members of his family have declined to comment.
However, community activist Andrew Holmes said the boy was approaching his 10th birthday next month. Though he didn’t know Gustavo, he said he’s learned through the family that Gustavo loved playing video games, loved his classmates and looked forward to going back to Arnold Mireles Academy.
“He wasn’t an outside kid,” Holmes said. “He was homebound.”
Holmes is pleading with anyone with surveillance footage that might have captured the shooting to come forward. He said Gustavo’s mother “has no idea or knowledge” of what led to the incident. He said her eyes are nearly swollen shut from crying.
“She’s in shock,” Holmes said. “Total shock.”
The man inside the car with Gustavo was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn after being shot in the back, face and chest, according to police.
Police have said no suspects are in custody.
At least 10 people were killed, including Gustavo, and 37 others wounded in shootings across Chicago since Friday evening.
Since the start of the year, 1,984 people have been shot in the city, 349 of them fatally, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun- Times. Last weekend, two people were killed, and 38 others were wounded in city gun violence.
The most recent fatal shooting happened about 3: 20 a. m. Sunday in the South Shore neighborhood. A 23- year- old man was sitting in a parked vehicle in the 2100 block of East 71st Street when he was approached by two males who shot him in the chest and left arm, according to Chicago Police. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died.
About two hours earlier, one man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side. A male approached and shot the men while they were standing on the sidewalk in the 3900 block of West Arthington, police said. They were both taken to Stroger Hospital. A 31- year- old man died with a gunshot wound to the neck. A 32- year- old man was shot in the right leg, and his condition had stabilized.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office did not release their identities Sunday.
A 58- year- old man was killed in a Princeton Park shooting about 4: 15 p. m. Saturday on the Far South Side. Willie Cooper was outside when a vehicle pulled up to him in the 1100 block of West 95th Street and someone inside fired shots, police and the medical examiner’s office said. Cooper, who lived in the Fernwood neighborhood, was shot in the mouth and torso and pronounced dead at the scene. No one was in custody as Area South detectives investigate.