A gunshot passed through the window at the Illinois Institute for Children Day Care Center at 10009 S. Yates Ave. (Credit: Mark Currington)
Reporting Steve Miller
CHICAGO (CBS) — At least one shot was fired into a day care center in the South Side’s Jeffery Manor neighborhood over the weekend.
As WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports, the gunshot — or shots — came through the front window of the Illinois Institute for Children at 10009 S. Yates Ave.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports
The gunfire entered the room where the infants are normally cared for — babies six weeks to 18 months old.
Daycare director Yolanda Smith says she is grateful the incident happened over the weekend. Had it been a weekday, dozens of children would have been playing or sleeping inside, she says.
“It could have been a tragedy,” she tells CBS 2’s Mai Martinez.
The owner of the day care center, Mark Currington, says this is not the first time there’s been violence in the area.
“Regularly, we just hear gunshots,” he said. “But never has it gone through the window.”
Currington says the day care center was closed when the window was broken. He says normally there would be eight to 10 babies in the room.
He says two shots went into the ceiling of the day care center — and three more shots were fired into the brick outside.
Chicago Police were not certain about the number of shots, but they say they are investigating.
The day care center is also located a block from an elementary school and a library.
