Toddler, 2, shot in head on Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park

A 2-year-old boy was shot in the head while he traveled in a car late Tuesday morning on Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park. The boy was in critical condition after the attack.

Chicago police said that witnesses have reported hearing gunshots about 11 a.m. in the 300 block of South Lake Shore Drive. The car then hit in the northbound lanes of the 100 block of Lake Shore Drive, police said in a statement.

Police said a citizen drove the female passenger in the car who was seen exiting with the child to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The child was expected to be transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Initially, the police reported that the child was 3 years old, but later clarified he was 2 years old.

A police spokeswoman said that it wasn’t clear if the gunshot came from inside or outside the car in the beginning. A bullet hole is visible in the rear passenger window of the crashed vehicle. Northbound Lake Shore Drive was closed until about 1:30 p.m. for a police investigation.

Further details about the shooting were not quickly released.

The shooting happened the day Vice President Kamala Harris was determined to visit Chicago to speak about COVID-19 vaccine equity.

Police have acknowledged at least five other shootings this year in the Loop.

Last weekend two men were wounded in separate shootings on Lower Wacker Drive. On Easter, an 18-year-old man was shot at about 7:10 a.m.,  he was hospitalized in critical condition. Before dawn Saturday, a 29-year-old man was shot in his knee as he traveled in a vehicle on Lower Wacker, police said.

On March 19, three people were arrested for allegedly firing gunshots in the first block of East Lake Street. 

In October 2020, prosecutors said that Lake Shore Drive has become a “shooting gallery.” At that time, someone shot out the eye of a 19-year-old woman.