Mom, Toddler Wounded In West Englewood Shooting
Updated 07/01/13 - 10:41 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A mother and her 22-month-old son were wounded in a shooting near a park in West Englewood.
CBS 2's Susanna Song reports the woman and her toddler were in a van in the 1700 block of West 73rd Street, near Murray Park, at about 6 p.m. Sunday, when someone drove up and began shooting.
Relatives of the victims said three men with guns stepped out of a red van and opened fire. Police said the gunmen fired at least five shots, without any regard for the children and families in and around the park.
The victims' family identified them as 26-year-old Leslie Freeman, and her 22-month-old son Demonte.
They were first taken to Holy Cross Hospital, and later transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital.
Leslie Freeman was shot in her wrist when she dove to protect her son, who was shot in the thigh. She and Demonte were expected to be okay, according to relatives.
Several other children, including Demonte's cousins, were playing outside when the shooting started.
"A red van … came from behind, and just got to shooting. And they was diving, and trying to cover up my other grandkids and themselves," said Leslie Freeman's mother, Sabrina Freeman. "She was trying to shield her son. That's how she got shot in the arm."
She said her grandchildren are too scared to go back to the park.
"'Grandma, we don't want to go back over there.' Now they don't even want to go back there," she said. "They totally don't want to go back."
Sabrina Freeman and her family have been through this before. In March 2012, her son was shot and killed walking out of a store at 72nd Street and Ashland Avenue.
