8-year-old boy wounded in drive-by shooting in Brighton Park

An 8-year-old boy was wounded in a drive-by shooting Friday morning in Brighton Park on the South Side.

The boy and a 19-year-old man were traveling in a car around 7:50 a.m. when a dark-colored SUV pulled alongside them in the 2600 block of West 39th Place and someone fired shots, Chicago police said.

The boy was struck in the left buttock and taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said. The 19-year-old was not injured.

No one was in custody.

At least 12 children 15 years old and younger have been shot in Chicago this year, according to Sun-Times figures.

Two of those children died. Melissa Ortega, 8, was shot and killed Jan. 22 in Little Village by a 16-year-old gunman aiming at gang rivals. Marcell Wilson, 12, was fatally shot Jan. 2 by a sibling’s friend inside a bedroom of his Englewood home.

Last year, at least 183 children younger than 15 were wounded in city gun violence.

Friday’s shooting happened in Chicago Police Department’s 9th District, which stretches from Chinatown to Gage Park. The district has seen five murders so far this year through Feb. 13, more than the two seen in the same period last year, according to police statistics. Shootings are 29% higher over 2021, rising to 18 from 14 over the same period.