Austin shooting leaves child, 3, dead, Chicago police say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 3-year-old was fatally shot Saturday in Austin on the West Side.

The boy was with his father, 27, who was driving south in the 600-block of North Central Avenue at around 6:30 p.m. when shots were fired from a blue Honda, police said.

The child was struck in the back, and his father suffered a graze wound to the abdomen, Chicago police said.

The boy was taken by the man to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, and was pronounced dead Saturday evening, police said.

Police said they believe that the boy's father was the intended target of the shooting.

The child was struck in the back about 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

"This is a proud community of Austin. We're going to be asking this community to step up with any type of information, anything that they saw," Chief Fred Waller said during a press briefing Saturday night.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also urged anyone with information about the shooting to contact detectives, and called the news "unfathomable," in series of tweets Saturday evening.

Three teenagers were also shot in Austin Saturday night.

Two teenage boys,16 and 15-years-old, were sitting on a porch when one boy saw a red laser pointed at hime and then heard multiple gun shots, police said.

A 13-year-old girl, who was inside the house, was shot in the neck. She was taken to Stoger Hospital in critical condition, police said.

The 16-year-old boy was shot in his leg. The 15-year-old boy was shot in his lower back. Both were taken to Mt. Sinai in good condition, police said.

Area Four detectives are investigating.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Sun Times-Media contributed to this report.