2 toddlers die after stabbing, jumping
Chicago police probe ‘immensely tragic’ event
CHICAGO – Two toddlers are dead after a woman left a child in a bathtub, stabbed a man and then jumped from the 11th floor of a building with another child early Thursday morning, police said.
Officers responded to the scene around 2 a.m. and found the woman lying on the ground outside the building with a 1-year-old boy in the South Shore neighborhood. Inside the apartment, police also discovered a 2-yearold boy in a bath tub and a 70-year-old man who had suffered stab wounds to his face and body.
The two children were pronounced dead at Comer Children’s Hospital. The woman and man were taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.
Police initially stated that the woman, in her 30s, is the man’s daughter and the mother of the 1-year-old child.
But police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Twitter that detectives were not immediately able to interview the woman and man or confirm the relationships of the people involved.
“This is an immensely tragic incident & our thoughts are with residents of that building & first responders working the case,” Guglielmi said.
A city that typically is known for high rates of crime and violence, Chicago witnessed a third consecutive year of crime reductions across the city in 2019. Robberies, burglaries and vehicle thefts reached their lowest levels in more than 20 years. The city also reported the lowest number of shootings since 2014 and murders since 2015.
“Crime is on the decline. But, while the numbers are improving, there’s much hard work ahead of us. We are on a path to a safer tomorrow, and we will not turn back until all Chicagoans feel the safety they deserve,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Twitter Wednesday.