Labor Day weekend violence in Chicago: 4-year-old boy killed, seven other children wounded, total of 65 shot

Chicago Fire Department paramedics treat a man who was shot in the leg early Monday outside a home in the 9900 block of South La Salle Street in Fernwood on the South Side.

Six people were killed and at least 61 others were wounded in Chicago, including eight children 17 and younger, over the Labor Day weekend.

The youngest murder victim was a 4-year-old boy who was shot while getting a haircut in a home in Woodlawn Friday night.

Mychal Moultry Jr., who was visiting from Alabama, was struck twice in the head about 9 p.m. when bullets smashed through the window of a home in the 6500 block of South Ellis Avenue, Chicago police said.

The boy’s father held him until paramedics arrived, community activist Andrew Holmes said. Mychal died Sunday. He was the second 4-year-old shot in Chicago in a week, and the second 4-year-old killed in the city this year.

Chicago Police Supt. David Brown pleaded with the community Monday to help detectives after Mychal and seven other children were shot over the weekend.

“We need people in the community to come forward. This is beyond trusting police. This is about the safety of our babies,” Brown told reporters.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the weekend violence was driven by people who “have absolutely no regard for the sanctity of human life.” Echoing Brown, Lightfoot once again urged residents of neighborhoods that are “under siege” to cooperate with the police to “stem the tide on this violence.”

“The people in the neighborhoods who are doing the shooting, they are known to people in the neighborhoods,” Lightfoot said in an unrelated news conference. “I understand the fear that’s out there but I’m just calling upon people in these neighborhoods — particularly when we think about the number of children who have been shot — you’ve got to have your faith overcome your fear. You’ve got to step up.”

Lightfoot said her office will announce initiatives focused on gun violence “in the coming days” but did not disclose any details.

Chicago police investigate Saturday afternoon after a 12-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl were among three people shot outside a Citgo gas station at North Sacramento Boulevard and West Fulton Street in East Garfield Park. A back to school picnic was happening at the Citgo when the shooting occurred.

Seven other children struck by gunfire

On Saturday, a 16-year-old boy showed up at Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound, police said.
Two girls, 12 and 15, were among three wounded near a back-to-school event in East Garfield Park. Police said they recovered the car used in the shooting, but no one was in custody.
Saturday night, a 15-year-old boy was hit in a drive-by shooting in Englewood.
Another 13-year-old boy was seriously wounded in a South Chicago shooting. Police said the boy was in a basement with friends when someone shot through a window.
Sunday morning, a 14-year-old boy was shot while walking to a car with his father in Little Village.
A 17-year-old was among two teens shot in Washington Park.

Outside Comer Children’s Hospital Friday night, advocates try to console the father of a 4-year-old boy who was shot in Woodlawn.

Other murder victims

A 25-year-old man was killed Monday afternoon in a shooting in Brainerd. He was shot in the head in the 9200 block of South Eggleston Avenue and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died.
A 50-year-old man was killed Monday morning while driving in West Garfield Park. He crashed his car after being shot several times in the 4200 block of West Washington Boulevard, police said.
In South Shore, a person was shot in the head while inside a car in the 7800 block of South Clyde Avenue, police said.
Hours earlier, Enrique Negrete, 23, was stopped at a traffic light in the 3700 block of South Kedzie Avenue when he was shot in the head following a brief conversation with the alleged shooter, who was traveling in another car, police said. Negrete died in the 5500 block of South Albany Avenue in Brighton Park, about two miles south of the shooting scene.
Another man was killed late Saturday in Lawndale. Officers found the 41-year-old lying between two parked cars in the 1600 block of South Central Park Avenue, police said. He was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital with two gunshot wounds to the chest and was pronounced dead.

Aside from Negrete, none of the adult homicide victims has been identified.

Other shootings

A 34-year-old CTA bus driver was shot Saturday night on Washington Avenue near State Street, police said. Dennis Green, 38, was arrested and charged in the shooting.
Five people were wounded in Lawndale early Saturday when someone opened fire from a car at a gathering in the 1400 block of South Tripp Avenue, police said.

At least 48 others were wounded in weekend shootings between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Monday.

Tuesday afternoon, police said a woman was shot in her toe Monday night in a domestic incident but didn’t seek medical attention until the next day.

Last weekend, at least six people were killed and 50 others wounded in citywide gun violence.

Contributing: Rachel Hinton and Tom Schuba