In a road rage incident that shocked the neighborhood in Chicago, a three-year-old kid was shot in the head and murdered inside the backseat of his mother’s vehicle.
On Friday evening, Mateo Zastro was traveling with his family in the white SUV on the Southwest Side when a red automobile drew up and the driver inside started firing.
Around 8.30 p.m., the mother was said to have left the mall between 44th & West Marquette Road in the West Lawn area after getting into an argument with a red vehicle and attempting to leave in her car.
Mateo was struck in the head when the red automobile, which had been following her, blatantly slammed into the family car. Eight hours after being taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, he passed away.
According to 8th District Commander Bryan Spreyne, “The mother tried to flee from the other cars, and the criminal subsequently pursued her.” There were many shots fired.
In less than a month, Mateo is the second youngster in Chicago to be shot in the head while inside a moving car, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot tries to control the city’s rising murder rate.
The New York Times ranks the Windy City ninth in America for homicide rates.
Other sources said the culprits may have been driving a Dodge Charger instead of the red Ford Mustang that was first believed to be their vehicle.
“I would want to send the family of this wonderful 3-year-old kid our most sincere sympathies.” The horrible act of violence that took this child’s life breaks our hearts.
We won’t stop until those who committed this terrible and despicable act of violence are held accountable, he said.
The horrific attack spared the mother and her three young children in the vehicle. According to police radio communications, she allegedly drove away from the incident and hailed down police for assistance.
Community activist Andrew Holmes stated, “It mother is still mourning that.” The baby’s favorite toy was a pair of dinosaurs, which she is only holding onto.
This is the second youngster to be shot in the head inside a moving car this year. Holmes said, “We have infant murderers out here on the streets.
Too upset to talk to the media, the mother.
Roger Ramirez, who lives a few houses away and had a bullet fly through his glass, told CBS News, “I simply got terrified and hit the ground.”
When he heard the hit when he was shutting the curtains, he stated, “It came right through my window, and I immediately panicked.”
Ramirez lamented that the incident had reached that point and that the little kid had died. I just relocated here because I assumed it was a secure area.
The Chicago Sun Times reported that 10 high-capacity bullets were fired close to that residential Southwest Side crossroads, according to the city’s ShotSpotter gunshot detection system.
Anyone with information or tips that result in an arrest and conviction in the sad case is eligible for a $7,000 prize from Holmes.
They believe that 284 children have already been shot in Chicago this year, 43 of whom have died.
Six of the 33 12-year-old or younger shooting victims were fatal.
The youngest victim, 5-month-old Cecilia Thomas, was shot in the head in South Shore in June while riding in a vehicle with her father.
According to police records, during the previous several years, Chicago’s murder rate has dramatically deviated from those of comparable US cities Los Angeles and New York.
Chicago’s murder rate per 100,000 began to soar into its own league after being relatively similar for the most of the second half of the 20th century.
Compared to LA’s 7.5 murders per 100,000 residents and New York’s 3.6, Chicago has 18.4 murders per 100,000 residents.
The city’s crime rates have been a priority for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot since she took office in May 2019, but she hasn’t had much luck so far.
With three months left in the year, the murder rate in 2022 is 545, barely 120 more than the all-time high murder rate of 645 set in 2021.
Prior to Lightfoot taking office as mayor, the homicide rate had decreased for four straight years.