7-year-old boy shot while with family on way to church in Roseland

CHICAGO - A man is in custody tonight after a 7-year-old boy was shot this morning while he and his family were on the way to church on the city's south side, authorities said.

The incident happened around 11:20 a.m. this morning on the 10800 block of S. State Street in the Roseland neighborhood on the city's south side.

According to police, a family of five were in one of their cars and about to head inside their church this morning when one of the family members spotted someone inside a different family vehicle that was parked.

A family member confronted the person in the parked car, Deputy Chief Larry Snelling told reporters Sunday afternoon, and the man suddenly pulled out a rifle and fired shots in the direction of the family in the other car.

A 7-year-old boy was struck in the leg. Someone drove the boy to Roseland Hospital where he was reported to have one gunshot wound to his left thigh and in stable condition.

He fled but officers were able to take him into custody. Deputy Chief Snelling said the suspect was caught with personal items from the vehicle. Area Two detectives are handling the investigation.

As noted by the Chicago Sun-Times, this is the fourth child 14-years-old or younger shot so far this weekend. This shooting follows the fatal shooting of 3-year-old Mateo Zastro, shot in the head on Friday night, in what officials believe to be a road rage incident.

The church that the family was attending on the 10800 block of S. State Street is the same church at which three men were wounded in a drive-by shooting at a funeral back in July.

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