Natalia Chi
A 9-year-old boy was killed in a shooting on Thursday night in the south suburb of Mattson, officials said.
The Cook County Coroner’s Office identified the boy as Omuiri Jones Brown.
Officers arrived at Block 800 of Campus Avenue just before 6:10 p.m. and found a 9-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, officials said.
Officials said Omuiri was given life support but died of his injuries on arrival at a local hospital.
Omuiri’s grandmother, Denise Jones, witnessed the tragic shooting.
“He died on the spot. He was right here on the porch when the boy shot through the porch,” Jones told NBC Chicago.
Police said preliminary investigations revealed the shooting occurred during an altercation between the two at the mansion. A 20-year-old woman was also wounded in the same shooting and was rushed to St. James Hospital on her own, although her life was not in danger.
Ms Jones told NBC Chicago that she didn’t know what caused the altercation, and that she saw five girls and a boy involved in the altercation, but it appeared to have ended afterward.
“Then they stopped fighting. They started walking back to the car. We went back to the porch as we were ready to go back home. And the young men who were with them just opened fire.” Jones told NBC Chicago.
Ms Jones later said she received her FOID card last September and was waiting to receive a concealed possession permit.
She also told NBC Chicago that Omuiri lived with her in Mattson to avoid violence in Chicago.
“His mother moved away and he didn’t want to go to Chicago so he stayed here because he was afraid of being shot and being beaten,” Jones said.
The shooting investigation is still in the “early stages” and no other information is available at this time.
Anyone with information should contact Matheson Police at 708-503-3130.
