7-year-old boy shot dead outside his front door: 'Unbearable'

Chicago's mayor and police superintendent are outraged and searching for a killer after a 7-year-old boy was fatally shot in the chest in a random act of gun violence.

The boy left his apartment to visit a next-door neighbor Tuesday afternoon, and when he reached the sidewalk, shots rang out, Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference.

Police are searching for the gunman, Snelling said, noting that the shots were fired from "a really good distance." It is not clear who the shooter was targeting, police said.

Responding officers immediately applied pressure to the 7-year-old's chest, Snelling said. The officers then put the boy in the back of their squad car and rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Snelling said.

"The random shooting of this 7-year-old is unacceptable. We really have to think about who we are, as a society, when our kids are being shot in the street," Snelling said.

So far this year, 127 children have been victims of gun violence in Chicago, Snelling said at Tuesday's news conference. Seventeen of those children were killed, he said.

"The grief in this city has become increasingly more unbearable," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson added. "The ungodly behavior, the acts of violence that have plagued our city for so long, have reached a breaking point."

"We will not rest until we bring some justice," Snelling said.

There have been 961 shooting incidents and 227 murders in Chicago so far this year, according to Chicago police data. Shootings incidents are down 8% in 2024 year-to-date versus last year.