Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― An 8-year-old boy was in the hospital Tuesday afternoon after being shot overnight in Humboldt Park in an attack that appears to be gang-related. But in an unexpected twist, Chicago's top cop blamed the boy's parents for the tragedy.

Josue Torres was reported in serious but stable condition at Stroger Hospital of Cook County Tuesday afternoon after undergoing a four-hour surgery. He was alert, surrounded by friends and family, and was expected to recover, but the shooting still has friends and neighbors furious.

Josue was sitting in his family's van Monday night, parked near the corner of Spaulding and Division with his mother and six other siblings, all between the ages of 8 and 14. His stepfather had just stepped out of the car to talk to Eudes Padilla when someone fired shots into the vehicle.

"We heard some shots, two shots, then there was all this screaming." Padilla said. "Whoever done this shooting is the dumbest dumbest person that could be on this earth. He's dumber than dummy."

A gunman in a passing black car with tinted windows fired the shots, striking only Josue, according to police News Affairs Officer David Banks. The car fled the scene in an unknown direction and has not been located, Banks said.

Police said the shooting appears to have been gang-related and they're investigating whether Josue's father was the intended target. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said Josue's parents share the blame for the shooting.

"I hate to say it, but the parents are to blame for that 8-year-old being shot. They choose to engage in this activity," Weis said. "(The father is) engaging in gang activity and, more than likely, he's probably breaking some laws. ... As long as we have people who are willing to break the law and engage in criminal activities, these are some of the consequences that we face. We have an innocent boy whose dreams will be shattered, whose family's dreams are shattered and it's horrible and we've got to do something about it."

Padilla said the kids were clearly innocent bystanders and victims of mistaken identity. He said he believes the shooter thought the van was full of teenagers. "He thought there was a bunch of young men in the car ... there were like five kids, maybe more kids in there ... when he heard the kids he stopped shooting," Padilla said.

Josue was hit twice, in his lower abdomen and groin. Doctors at Stroger Hospital performed nearly four hours of surgery to repair the damage.

Dr. Courtney Hollowell said, "He's resting comfortably. He's got an assortment of wrestling toys and he's got his family at his side."

Some teachers from Lafayette Elementary School were also at Josue's side. He's attended the school since preschool and is a popular 2nd grader. 

Assistant principal Helena Coupaud said, "I just recall him being highly motivated, dedicated and competitive. It is a tragedy and we at Lafayette have him in our thoughts and prayers."

Doctors said the boy was drifting in and out of consciousness when he was transferred to Stroger from Norwegian-American Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds to the lower abdomen, and they weren't sure he would make it.

Stroger Hospital spokesman Sean Howard said the boy and his family were frightened. He said Josue told the attending physician, Dr. John Houston, that he was afraid he would die.

"He had mentioned during the inception here as he came into our unit that, 'You guys have been very nice to me; if I die, I'm going to miss you,' to which Dr. Houston and his staff replied, 'You're not going to die. We're going to save your life,'" Howard said.

Josue was in surgery for four hours, and woke up from surgery very happy to be alive and hungry, despite the injuries to his abdomen, Howard said.

After a brief stint of the recovery room, he is now in the children's ICU unit. "He is breathing on his own through an oxygen mask. All his vital signs are pretty good at this point,'' Howard said. But Josue was still enduring a lot of pain.

His family expressed their gratitude Tuesday to doctors who "gave the young boy a second chance at life."

"On behalf of my family and I, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. John Houston and the entire Trauma Unit staff at Stroger Hospital. Our son is doing well and due to the Trama team's efforts, he now has a second chance at life," Jessica Perez, Josue's mother, said in a written statement Tuesday morning.

But community activists are furious that another child has been injured by gun violence.

"His parents are asking for the public's help in turning in these perpetrators, who are like terrorists, and just opened fire, and this kid was hit," said community activist Andrew Holmes.

Josue is the youngest of seven children, ages 8 to 14, a hospital source said. His parents have apparently been trying to move out of the area for sometime because of the violence.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker, Joanie Lum and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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