Chicago police have reported that a 12-year-old boy has been shot dead in front of his twin brother in Chicago.
Demetrius Townsel Jr. was pronounced dead Saturday night following the shooting in Gary, Indiana, about 35 minutes outside of his Chicago neighborhood.
Police reported that an unknown person fired shots at a car and struck the 12-year-old boy, who was sitting next to his twin brother, Darius.
Community activist, Andrew Holmes, disclosed that Darius held his brother all the way to the hospital and tried to save his life by applying pressure to the gunshot wound.
“I miss my brother,” Darius said during a memorial on Monday.
“He was the funniest dude I’ve ever known. Picked everybody up, made them laugh,” he said.
According to the Chicago Tribune, there were four other people in the car with Demetrius when the shooting happened.
The driver of the vehicle was a 21-year-old woman. The passengers were all under the age of 17.
“We believe at this time that no one in the car was a target, and it was a random shooting into the vehicle,” Gary Police Cmdr. Jack Hamady said.
Detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying the shooter who killed Demetrius as his family demands justice.
“Why would y’all take my baby’s life?” his father, Demetrius Townsel Sr., said.
“I can’t hold my baby anymore. Please turn yourself in,” the boy’s mother, Katherine Brown, pleaded.
Brown said her son was a sixth grader at Bailey Academy, where he enjoyed math and gym classes. He also loved playing video games and basketball with his family.
Police have no further details to offer the public yet, but Gary Mayor Jerome Prince said they are working diligently to solve the crime.
“I want to make it perfectly clear incidents like this make no sense. These incidents will not be tolerated,” Prince said.
The police therefore asked anyone with information on this case should call 1-800-U-TELL-US (1-800-883-5587).
