1-year-old girl among 3 dead in mass shooting on I-57 near 111th Street
CHICAGO (CBS)-- A 1-year-old girl and two teenagers were killed – and three others were injured – after a mass shooting on I-57 near 111th Street Sunday night.
The interstate was closed for hours.
Six people were inside a car headed north on I-57 when shots were fired around 10:30 p.m. between 111th and 127th streets.
They white-sport utility vehicle at which the shots were fired was able to get off the expressway stopping near the 111th Street exit ramp in Morgan Park.
The passenger-side window of the car was left riddled with bullet holes, and the damage did not stop.
Three people were killed – 1-year-old A-mara Hall, 13-year-old William Smith, and 19-year-old Nasir Hall – according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
A-mara died of a gunshot wound do the torso. The other two victims died of multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of death for all three was homicide, according to the Medical Examiner's office.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, Illinois State Police were staying tight-lipped Monday – releasing very little information.
State police did say three other people were taken to the hospital, but their ages and conditions were not available. One of them was a child who was rushed to the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital for treatment, and we believe another was a woman who was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
But with State Police sharing very little information, we don't know much about those who were hurt.
"It was utter chaos," sad Pastor Donovan Price.
Price was at the scene Sunda night, and he is now working with the family of the 13-year-old boy killed in the shooting.
"Of course, the mom is barely able to speak at this time. She's devastated, probably still in shock - and still wondering how this all happened," Price said. "She wasn't in the car, I don't believe – and so she basically gets a call, and then goes and runs to the hospital to find out the worst."
How did all of this start? There is still no official answer to that question.
"Now, we're still unsure about information," Price said.
Pastor Price said quite a bit is being floated when it comes to answering those questions.
"Road rage and that type of thing," he said. "Only those who were there really know what was going on."
State police have not said if they believe the shooting was random or mistaken identity, or if the SUV was targeted.
Either way, there were children inside. There were no tinted windows - and with six people packed inside, the shooter would be able to see the SUV was full.
We are told everyone riding in the SUV were family members, and whoever opened fire had no care for those in the SUV – nor anyone else driving on I-57.
We have continued checking in with state police on this, but there were no updates Monday afternoon.
"This investigation is still in its infancy," state police said. "To protect the integrity of the investigation no further information is available at this."
UChicago Medicine also declined to comment, saying they cannot provide information without names due to HIPAA regulations.
This is the second expressway shooting reported in just a matter of days. A man was killed in a shooting on the Stevenson Expressway on Thursday night. His pregnant wife, who also was in the car, was not hurt.
