4-year-old shot while going to grab ICEE with grandmother in Chicago

CHICAGO -- A 4-year-old boy was shot and critically injured inside a vehicle in Chicago on Tuesday, police said.

Police said a 4-year-old boy was inside a moving vehicle when someone shot him in the back.

"It's unbelievable that we still have to suffer this kind of violence in our city," Maria Ugarte, who lives in the area, said.

The 4-year-old boy's grandmother, who was in the car with him when shots were fired, told our sister station ABC7 that the two of them were on their way to get an ICEE when the gunfire broke out.

She said, thankfully, her grandson is out of surgery, and while he is still in critical condition, she said his condition is stabilized.

As investigators canvassed the area, multiple evidence markers were seen in the middle of the street next to two vehicles with bullet holes.

"There were two cars that were hit by the shooting. One was a white vehicle with two men in it. They did not get hit," Alderperson Jessie Fuentes, a city official, said. "And then, there was another vehicle with a grandmother and a grandson."

Fuentes said the 4-year-old and his grandmother were innocent bystanders in what investigators believe was a targeted shooting.

Fuentes added that it was the grandmother's quick thinking that helped save her grandson's life. After the shooting, she drove the boy to a nearby hospital.

"She's extremely brave. Her ability to act and not freeze in that moment is what allowed this young boy to still be alive to this very moment," Fuentes said.

Fuentes said on Wednesday they, together with community organizers and violence interrupters, will be canvassing the scene of the shooting to connect with residents and business owners.

Detectives are investigating. Police did not immediately provide further information about the shooting.