Local
Brighton Park shooting leaves 32-year-old mother critically wounded; no arrest reported
A woman was shot in the head while driving with her husband and two children near 47th and Western on Thursday morning. Police had made no arrests by Thursday evening as investigators searched for a suspect vehicle described by witnesses.
A 32-year-old woman was critically injured in a shooting Thursday morning while driving with her husband and two children in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, authorities said. The family was near West 47th Street and South Western Avenue around 9:30 a.m. when a gray car pulled alongside their vehicle and someone inside fired, striking the woman in the head, police said.
Surveillance footage from businesses on the block captured the shooting. The woman underwent surgery at a local hospital, according to 15th Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez. Her condition remained critical Thursday night.
Lopez said the vehicles had been followed for about a mile after an apparent dispute on the road. At a red light, he said, the driver of the other car opened fire. Police have not publicly confirmed a motive.
“No one should have to live in fear because you’re driving on the road and someone behind you is upset,” Lopez said.
Witnesses described the suspect vehicle as a gray, four-door Toyota Scion with a rear bike rack, according to a Facebook post by Lopez. The driver allegedly fled south on Western Avenue. No arrests had been made as of Thursday evening, and the investigation was ongoing.
Lopez said the children witnessed their mother being shot. “Regardless of what the outcome is, today, literally they saw their mom shot in the head,” he said.