Chicago police said Friday that charges were pending for a suspect in connection with the shooting of a 9-month-old girl at a McDonald’s in the Washington Park neighborhood.
No charges have been announced for the suspect, who is in custody, according to a Chicago police spokesperson.
The shooting happened just before 11 p.m. Tuesday when the mother of the 9-month-old girl went into a McDonald’s at 70 E. Garfield Blvd. and left the child in the car with her boyfriend, according to police.
When she came out and got into the driver’s seat, she peered into her rearview mirror and spotted blood coming from the baby’s nose but “thought nothing of it,” as the baby had been fighting a cold, a police report said.
The woman then got out of her car, opened the back door and saw the baby was bleeding “profusely,” so she jumped behind the wheel and drove to Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the report.
The child was listed in critical condition with gunshot wounds below her right ear and above her left eyebrow.
Earlier this week, police were speaking with a person of interest who they said had been released without being charged.
Community activist Andrew Holmes welcomed the arrest but was still searching for answers Friday.
“We’re still pushing forward because with the way things have been going in the state of Illinois, they may have a person of interest in custody and that person may walk out tonight or tomorrow. So we’re still going to push and ask for information,” Holmes said.
Holmes said he planned to reach out to the girl’s parents Friday.
Also Friday, Holmes called attention to the June 2022 shooting death of 5-month-old Cecilia Thomas, offering a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to a conviction in that shooting.
“I talked with both the mother and father (of Cecilia), and they’re still suffering because nothing’s solved and nobody’s been arrested,” Holmes said.
Thomas was in her car seat with her dad driving in the 7700 block of South Shore Drive when someone in another car pulled up and fired shots, striking the girl in her head.
“For anybody to get shot, that’s disrespectful, but for a little baby that doesn’t know anything about guns? Come on, man,” Holmes said.
He’s continuing to seek information in the shootings of both children.
“We need to close these cases out because it’s heartbreaking,” Holmes said. “Their brains were not functionally strong yet, and here they have a bullet lodged in their head. We have one deceased and one fighting for her life.”
