9-year-old boy fatally shot at grandmother’s birthday party in suburban Chicago

FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. — A 9-year-old boy was fatally shot while attending his grandmother’s birthday party in suburban Chicago on Saturday, authorities said.

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According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, Ulysses Campos suffered a fatal wound to his chest while playing with other children at about 10:15 p.m. CDT, WLS-TV reported.

Police said a disturbance occurred in a nearby alley, and someone in a moving vehicle fired four to six shots into a group, according to WBBM-TV. Campos was the only person struck by the gunfire, according to the television station.

The boy was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where he died shortly before 11 p.m. CDT, WLS reported. Family members said that Campos was two weeks shy of his 10th birthday, according to WFLD.

The boy was attending his grandmother’s 70th birthday, the television station reported. Campos had an older brother and three younger sisters, family members said.

“A few of my other cousins were there and they’re all kids,” Campos’ cousin, Karina Cazares, 26, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s horrible, it’s awful. They’re traumatized now, I obviously have the trauma from it as well.

“We lost a member of our family that we loved and cared for so deeply, and we still do. We just hope that we can put his soul to rest and get through this as a family.”

Police said a person of interest is in custody, according to WLS. The suspect’s vehicle was located a mile from the shooting in unincorporated Leyden Township, the television station reported.

“This was completely random,” Cazares told the Sun-Times. “We were celebrating my grandma’s 70th birthday in the backyard and someone chose to open fire at a group of kids, none of which are gang-related or gang-affiliated.”

A GoFundMe page to raise money for the boy’s funeral had already raised more than $16,000 as of Monday evening.