Woman Killed, Her 4-Year-Old Son Wounded, In Ambush Shooting
(CBS) -- A 4-year-old boy was wounded, and his mother killed, in an ambush shooting Friday night on Chicago's West Side.
CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports.
"This is totally senseless," says Johnny Betts.
He's talking about the alley shooting in this alley that claimed the life of his niece and wounded her son. It happened around 5:20 p.m. in the 5200 block of West Kamerling.
Betts says his 27-year-old niece was returning home with her son and 19-year-old boyfriend, who also was wounded. The uncle says he'd opened the back door for them.
"It wasn't even one minute later I heard at least 11 shots ring out," he says.
When Betts went to the alley, his niece was lying face down. Police say she had been shot in the head and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
"The little boy ran to the open garage on the other side over there ... asking for help because his mother just got shot," Betts says.
He says he doesn't know how the family is going to tell the boys' two brothers their mother is gone.
He and others in the neighborhood believe the boyfriend was the intended target.
"She was an innocent bystander and so was the baby," the uncle says.
The boyfriend was shot in his left arm and is expected to recover. According to Chicago police, he has gang affiliations.
Crisis responder Andrew Holmes is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.
The injured child was recovering at Stroger Hospital.
