Boy Who Was Washing His Hands Before Bed Gets Killed By Stray Bullet

A boy who was washing his hands in the bathroom before going to bed was killed by a stray bullet in the family's Chicago home on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

The deceased, a 7-year-old boy, was reportedly getting ready for bed when someone fired multiple shots in a nearby alley in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the city's West Side. The stray bullet that was fired reportedly struck the child in the abdomen, Yahoo News reported.

The boy was immediately taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, despite the efforts, the boy died while he was undergoing treatment at the hospital. The deceased 7-year-old boy was later identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office as Akeem Briscoe.

Officers revealed that they aren't sure what prompted the shooting. However, they added that they do not believe anyone in the home was the intended target. Officers reportedly found several shell casings in the alley and are examining private video footage from the area in the hopes of identifying a suspect, ABC News reported.

Deputy Police Chief Ron Pontecore said that he hoped whoever killed the boy would come forward.

“Own up to what you did, we have a very distraught mother," he said.

According to police department statistics, as of Sunday, Oct. 23, 306 juveniles were shot in Chicago this year. Meanwhile, forty-nine juveniles have been the victims of homicides.

Overall, there have been 564 homicides in the city as of Sunday, Oct. 23 compared to 676 for the same period last year. There have also been 2,376 shootings this year compared to 2,959 for the same period last year.

In a similar but unrelated incident, an 11-month-old baby, who was with her mother in a parked car in the Bronx neighborhood of New York, was hit by a stray bullet in her face after a shooter went on a rampage on Wednesday, Jan. 19, as previously reported.

On Wednesday, Jan. 19, an armed shooter began chasing an unidentified man down the street and fired two shots at him. One of the stray bullets that the gunman fired seriously injured an 11-month-old girl in her left cheek while the infant was seated in a safety seat in a vehicle.

The girl was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical but stable condition. The baby was later transferred to New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan.

During the shooting, the 32-year-old mother and the child were in a vehicle parked on a corner while the infant's father was in a grocery store nearby. The mother wasn’t injured in the firing.