The shooting death of a 7-year-old child happened on Tuesday afternoon at an apartment building on the Near West Side of Chicago.
The boy, whose name is Jai’mani Amir Rivera, was shot in the chest while he was leaving the Oakley Square Apartments complex at 2325 W. Jackson Blvd. at around 3 p.m. Richard T. Crane Medical Prep High School is right across the street.
There were reports of gunfire, and the police were dispatched, according to Supt. Larry Snelling of the police officers arrived quickly at the site and found the boy gravely injured. They began chest compression. He was loaded into a police car and transported to Stroger Hospital in Cook County. Despite every effort by the police to save the youngster, he was declared dead on arrival.
Neighbors claimed the gunshot that killed the boy came from beyond the apartment complex’s secured entrance.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said to reporters at the scene that his life was snuffed out before he even had the opportunity to live it the way it needed to be lived. He said it is unacceptable, and they must seriously confront the city’s rampant gun violence because “we are losing our children.”
Police claimed the youngster had stepped out of his residence on his way to see a neighbor. Gunfire erupted from a long distance away, according to Snelling. The shooting, he claimed, was likely haphazard.
The inquiry is still in its early stages, and Snelling could not provide a motive, reiterating that he did not think the youngster was targeted.
Shootings in the neighborhood can feel random at times, and locals have become worried about their safety, according to statements made by tenants.
As of Tuesday, 17 minors had lost their lives due to gun violence in the city, according to Snelling. There were 227 homicides recorded by the Chicago Police Department as of Sunday, a decrease from 268 during the same period the previous year.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was there during the aftermath, linked the city’s high rate of gun violence to the city’s policy of underinvestment in its areas.
Johnson announced on Monday the formation of a reparations task group to enhance funding for communities said to be affected by systematic racism.
