Jan 29, 2008 5:48 pm US/Central
Father Questioned In Fatal Gary Carjacking Case
13-Month-Old Boy Fatally Shot, Mother Injured In Incident Monday Evening
GARY, Ind. (CBS) ―
Police in Gary, Ind., are searching for a carjacker who shot and killed a baby boy and injuring his mother, and the city's mayor says "there will be no rest, peace or tranquility" until the suspect is caught.
As CBS 2 Northwest Indiana Bureau Chief Pamela Jones reports, detectives Tuesday evening are questioning the baby's father about the Monday night shooting.
Investigators working on this case tell CBS 2 police have been questioning the father of 13-month-old Josiah Shaw, who was killed in the carjacking, and that they're looking into whether a dispute over child support somehow led to this violence.
CBS 2 talked to several people who heard the gunfire Monday night – all were so afraid, they would not let us interview them on camera.
The Gary Police Department SWAT team moved in to help bring a suspected killer to justice, a person police say shot and killed 13-month-old Josiah Shaw and wounded his mother Monday night.
Josiah Shaw was pronounced dead around 10 p.m. Monday at the Methodist Hospitals in Gary. Police say he was shot in the face.
Clumps of gauze remain near 21st Place and Virginia Street where neighbors say the mother fell to the ground.
Sources tell CBS 2 28-year-old Kwana Shaw went there to visit her best friend who lives in a nearby apartment. It all began at 7:40 p.m. Monday, when her friend called 911 to report an apparent carjacking. She told dispatchers a man forced his way into her sport-utility vehicle near 21st Place and Virginia Street in Gary.
She also said a man drove off with Josiah still inside the vehicle.
Police found the red Ford Explorer about two hours later with the child inside, in the 1900 block of Virginia Street.
Someone also witnessed a man running out of the SUV. The Gary SWAT team and the Hobart K-9 unit arrived on scene but could not find the man on Virginia Street. The SWAT team then was dispatched elsewhere.
City officials are furious about the case.
"In Gary, Indiana, we're not going to allow anyone to kill a baby and just walk away, no matter where they live, if it's in Gary or outside the community," said Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, "and I talked to the police chief and I told him there will be no rest, peace or tranquility until we catch the person that did this."
Gary police Cmdr. Samuel Roberts Jr. added: "Citizens of Gary and the community of Gary are made up of a lot of God-fearing people with sensitivity that wouldn't allow that. But this individual evidently is different, and we hope to bring him to justice."
Roberts said Kwana Shaw was in critical condition at last check and had to go into surgery, but he would not confirm the hospital where she was being treated. Police hope to speak with her on Wednesday.
Roberts also said Gary police arrested a 33-year-old man on a traffic warrant, and information they have received has led them to question him in connection to the carjacking, but no charges have been filed in the case.
Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.
"It's not so much different as it is impactive because of the age of the child and another female and another senseless shooting," said Gary Police Department Deputy Chief Tom Branson. "And we're out to get this individual or individuals."
And while police stopped anyone thought to appear suspicious in the area, CBS 2 has learned their focus was on questioning a 33-year-old Portage man said to be the baby's father. That man just received an order Monday to pay child support for the 15-month-old.
Police are not calling him a suspect in the carjacking, but tell us they're not ready to rule him out.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones, Kristyn Hartman and the Post-Tribune's Christin Nance Lazerus contributed to this report.
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