2 boys shot, 1 fatally, in Grand Crossing, Chicago police say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two young boys were shot, one fatally, on Chicago's South Side Thursday evening, Chicago police said.

An 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy were inside a home in the 1400-block of East 71st Place in the city's Grand Crossing neighborhood just after 5:20 p.m., when they were shot, CPD said.

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The 8-year-old was shot in the left side of his head, and taken to Comer Children's Hospital in serious-to-critical condition. He later died, police said.

The boy was identified to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as Josiah Hooker.

The 5-year-old suffered a graze wound and was taken to Comer Children's in good condition, CPD said.

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Chicago police unraveled a long strand of yellow crime scene tape, further cordoning off a South Side home at the scene. Red tape was the indicator that what happened there was the end of a life.

In this case, it was the life of a young boy.

"Because he's so little, I just know that his mother is probably completely numb," said Julie Harris, a friend of the victim's mother.

Harris lives on the block and says she's known the little boy's mother most of her life. She said she knows the pain the mother is feeling personally, too.

"She's probably... she has no words," Harris said. "She doesn't even know what to say, what to think. She just knows right now that she is hurting and it's not a lot a person can say to her."

Investigators swarm the house, trying to figure out how that little boy died.

"This is another one of those tragic accidents that we seem to keep running into," Pastor Donovan Price said.

Price, a well-known anti violence advocate, along with neighbors are now waiting to hear what led up to the gunfire.

"One of the most important things to do is just make sure that any firearms that you have are put away and safe and not accessible to kids," nearby resident Aaron Franklin said.

Police said they recovered a gun at the scene, and investigators led a man from the home in handcuffs, his pants appearing to be stained with blood.

It was not immediately clear what led up to the shooting.

Area One detectives are investigating.

Chopper 7 was over the scene about 6 p.m., and there was a large police presence.

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