Chicago Police: Troubled Colored Boy, 7, apparently hit by bullet meant for older brother

A 7-year-old boy shot in the back on the West Side was hit by a bullet apparently meant for his older brother standing on a porch not far away, a law enforcement source said Thursday.

The boy was sitting in a car in the 1000 block of North Leamington Avenue around 9:55 p.m. Wednesday when he was shot in the upper back, police said. His mother drove him to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, about a mile and a half away, and he was transferred in serious condition to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

A source said the boy was alert and talking.

The mother had pulled up to a home on the block to visit someone and had left the boy in the car, the law enforcement source said. The boy's older brother was on the porch, watching the boy, when someone opened fire several times, the source said.

The car was hit at least twice, and one of the bullets hit the boy in the back, the source said. Police recovered a handful of shell casings.

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