2-year-old shot in head on Lake Shore Drive near Grant ParkDavid Struetton April 6, 2021 at 6:29 pm

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

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

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

A female passenger in the car was seen exiting with the child and then being driven by a citizen to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said. The child, shot in the temple, was expected to be transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition, police said.

Police initially said the child was 3 years old, but later clarified he was 2 years old.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

It wasn’t immediately clear if the gunshot came from inside or outside the car, a police spokeswoman said. A bullet hole could be seen 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.

Additional details about the shooting were not immediately released.

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

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

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Last weekend two men were wounded in separate shootings on Lower Wacker Drive. On Easter, an 18-year-old man was shot about 7:10 a.m. while driving with his girlfriend in the first block of North Lower Wacker, police said. Struck in the neck, 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 shortly after midnight in the first block of East Lake Street, police said. A hotel security guard gave a vehicle description to police, who found the car on Wacker Drive.

In October 2020, prosecutors said Lake Shore Drive became a “shooting gallery” when someone shot out the eye of a 19-year-old woman in a vehicle at Jackson Boulevard, just south of where the child was shot Tuesday.

Chicago police’s 1st District, which covers the Loop and South Loop, has seen two other shootings this year through March 28, according to police statistics. Overall crime in the district has fallen 35% over the same period last year, according to the numbers. Meanwhile, reports of sex assault and vehicle thefts have increased over the last year.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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