Driver fatally shot in car with 6-month-old boy in Heart of Chicago is identified
A man fatally shot Wednesday morning while driving a 6-month-old boy, who was grazed in the shooting, has been identified.
Leonardo Martinez, 35, and the boy were northbound in the 2400 block of South Oakley Avenue around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday when someone in a blue vehicle approached and opened fire, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The child was taken to Stroger Hospital with a graze wound to his cheek, police said. He was in good condition.
Martinez was shot multiple times in his head and body and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
On Thursday, the medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide.
After the man was shot, he plowed into two parked vehicles, officials said. Officers responding to the scene had cordoned off a red Jeep with its front passenger seat window shattered. It appeared as if the victims had been inside.
The blue vehicle fled south on Oakley Avenue after the shooting, authorities said.
Later that day, students played outside at a nearby elementary school within eyesight of the shooting scene. A helicopter hovered above the red and yellow tape surrounding the intersection of 24th Street and Oakley Avenue.
Oakley Avenue, lined with small homes, shops and restaurants, was quiet with some residents standing outside to watch the commotion.
Officers declined to comment on the shooting, while investigators could be seen surveying damage to a shop's glass door that had shattered, leaving shards of glass strewn across the sidewalk.
Rich Moroni, who was steps away from the scene watching with his dog, said he had been inside since police arrived.
"I didn't hear the bullets," Moroni said. "When I started hearing the cop cars flying all over the place I came out. They were going down every street."
No one was in custody Thursday as the investigation continued.
Contributing: Jake Wittich