The Franklin Park Police Department is seeking assistance from the public. If anyone witnessed this event, or could provide additional surveillance video of this incident, please contact the Franklin Park Police Department at 847-678-2444.
A 9-year-old Illinois boy was fatally struck by a bullet in a drive-by shooting incident during his grandmother's birthday party in a Chicago suburb, police said.
The boy, identified as Ulysses Campos, had been playing with a group of children in an alley late Saturday when four to six shots were fired from a moving vehicle, Franklin Park police director Michael Witz said in a statement on Facebook Sunday.
The family says that Ulysses, who also went by Uly Bear, was just two weeks away from turning 10, and was playing with his cousins while the adults were inside, according to a GoFundMe page set up by a relative.
The boy was struck in the chest and died after being taken to a hospital, police said.
Ulysses' uncle Ottilo Campos told CBS Chicago his family has placed a cross at the site of the shooting, and that Campos' father, also named Ulysses, held the boy before he was taken to the hospital.
"This was not targeted," Ottilo Campos told CBS Chicago. "It was just a random act of violence ... There's a lot of emotions, sadness, anger. Anger the most, because he's 9."
Police say a person of interest is in custody but have not named that person.
Cops also said that this is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public.
The Franklin Park Police Department is seeking assistance from the public. If anyone witnessed this event, or could provide additional surveillance video of this incident, please contact the Franklin Park Police Department at 847-6782444.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to the family member who launched the GoFundMe page to help pay for funeral expenses but has not heard back.
The family has asked for $15,000 in donations and has already gained over $20,000 through the GoFundMe page.
The GoFundMe page also says they plan on planting a tree in the boy’s honor.
