Authorities released two people Friday evening after questioning them in connection with a shooting that seriously wounded a 4-year-old boy as he rode in his family’s minivan in the McKinley Park neighborhood Wednesday evening.
According to Chicago police, prosecutors cited inconsistent statements from the victims and witnesses of the shooting when they denied charges, as well as the possibility that the shooting could have been in self-defense.
The child was wounded in a shootout between the minivan he was riding in and a second car, according to a person familiar with the investigation, and it was unclear who fired first.
A representative from the Cook County state’s attorney’s office said in a statement that prosecutors didn’t proceed with charges due to insufficient evidence and uncooperative witnesses.
“We remain committed to justice and will continue to work with police if any additional information becomes available,” the statement said.
Police department representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The boy was in the minivan with three other children, his parents and uncle when he was shot, just south of the intersection of 31st Street and Ashland Avenue. According to police, his mother told officers she saw a white Infiniti follow them south down Ashland Avenue beginning at West Cermak Road, with a woman driving and a man in the front seat, before she heard gunshots and realized her son had been hit.
Surveillance footage captured the man firing from the passenger seat of the car, according to police. Officers recovered a gun and a spent magazine when they first located the Infiniti.
The boy’s family first took him to UI Health for medical attention, where he was stabilized and then taken to Stroger Hospital with a gunshot wound to the back.
The gunshots left a hole about a foot and a half long in the back windshield of the minivan. The child’s parents did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The investigation by Wentworth Area detectives remained open and ongoing.
