24-year-old woman fatally shot while shielding 1-year-old daughter in Chicago
CHICAGO -- A Chicago neighborhood is in turmoil after a 24-year-old woman was shot and killed as she held her 1-year-old daughter in her arms Tuesday morning.
Police responded around 8:50 a.m. to a report of shots fired in the 1200-block of North Mason Avenue in the Austin neighborhood.
Brittany Hill was shot while talking to her boyfriend, the father of the child, who was sitting in his car.
Witnesses said a silver sedan pulled up next to her, and someone got out and opened fire.
"All of a sudden, I hear all these gunshots ringing out," the baby's great grandfather, Larry Jones, said. "I see...Brittany laying in the street."
Hill was holding her toddler in her arms and took cover to protect her, even after being shot several times.
"She moved toward the rear of a parked vehicle, fell to the ground and laid over her child to shield the 1-year-old baby from the gunfire," Chicago police Officer Michelle Tannehill said.
She got herself to West Suburban Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 9:25 a.m., police said. Hill also leaves behind a young son.
Community activist and former mayoral candidate Ja'mal Green and Hill were friends who attended high school together.
"To see this hit home and to see this hit her is very, very discouraging," he said.
On Tuesday afternoon, police said they located the car driven by the gunman. They were looking for surveillance video to confirm the car was the one in the drive-by shooting.
Police said this was not a random act of violence. No arrests have been made.
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