Pregnant mom, grandma killed, 3 others injured in Chicago

Two women have been killed and three others, including an infant, have been injured during a shooting incident in Chicago, Illinois.

The shooting, which happened in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Monday night, claimed the lives of both the pregnant mother and the grandmother of the 11-month-old boy, who himself was injured along with two other men.

Police arrived at the scene after reports that multiple people had been shot while returning from a family outing and getting out of their parked vehicle.

Apparently, a vehicle drove up and shot the boy’s mother, Patricia Chew, in the right side, and the boy’s grandmother, Lolita Wells, in the leg. Both were taken to Stroger Hospital where they were pronounced dead.

"Coming home from a family outing, this family was attacked by unknown individuals," Deputy Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy said. "In a second, two generations of that child's family were wiped out."

In addition, the two men, both aged 25, were taken Mount Sinai Hospital, with one of them shot in both legs and the other in the abdomen.

According to police, the baby underwent a CAT scan and his condition is stable.

"The police officer brought the baby in, he was holding the baby," said Allen Florence, who witnessed the scene in the emergency room. "They were holding him real tight. You could tell right away he had been shot the way the traffic was."

Shootings are rife in Chicago and murders are up 20 percent in the city from last year at this time, according to crime statistics.

Homicide rates have increased in other big cities across the United States with over 30 cities reporting a rise in gun violence from a year ago, according to The New York Times.

Street gang fights over drug turf and the accessibility of guns are thought to be the major factors in major cities, including Chicago.

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