Tory’on Dukes, Indiana 4 year old boy shot dead, mom injured in drive by shooting of Gary house sprayed with gunfire. No arrests.
A four-year-old boy has been killed and his 27-year-old mother seriously wounded after ‘multiple gunshots’ were fired into their Indiana apartment in the early hours of Monday morning in what appears to be a targeted hit.
Police responded at around 1:10am to reports of shots fired outside of a home on the 4300 block of West 23rd Avenue in Gary, officials confirmed.
Inside the home, officers found Tory’on Dukes, and the mother downed in a second-floor bedroom.
Tory’on had suffered a single gunshot wound and the mother, who is three-months pregnant, had been shot in the arm and grazed in the face.
Both of the victims were taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake Campus where the four year old child was pronounced dead soon after.
The Lake County coroner’s office has not released details about the fatality WGN-TV reported.
The victim’s mother remains in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.
The mother’s boyfriend and her three other children were also inside the home when the shots rang out, however none of them were injured.
Neither the boy nor mother have been formally identified by police, however, family members have identified the four-year-old victim as Tory’on Dukes.
Boy’s shooting death follows father gunshot death two months earlier:
Speaking to CBS Chicago, the boy’s grandmother said the four year old had been sleeping in a bed with his mother when the shots were fired into the bedroom window.
The family had only recently moved into the home, she said, adding that Tory’on’s father was fatally shot in Chicago two months ago.
‘I believe they were all inside the residence,’ said Gary Police Commander Jack Hamady in a press conference.
‘There were three other children in the residence along with one other adult inside the residence at that time. I believe the children were sleeping, but the two adults were up.’
The grandmother added her grandson had yet to start school but was able to recite the alphabet.
Police said it appears the shots were fired from outside the apartment unit. They have not released any details on what may have motivated the shooting.
So far, no arrests have been made by authorities. It remains unclear why family members were apparently targeted.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Lake County/Gary Metro Homicide Unit at 219-755-3855 or the crime tip line at 866-274-6947.
