Officials Call For End To 'Senseless' Gun Violence After 1-Year-Old Boy Killed In Shootout
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police are calling for witnesses to come forward after a 1-year-old boy was killed during a shootout in Spring Hill.
Pittsburgh Police say 1-year-old Zykier Young, who died after being shot in the head, is one of 10 victims of gun violence in the past week.
On Monday, police responded to the Three Rivers Manor apartment complex on Rhine Place after reports of shots fired just after 6 p.m. When officers arrived, they found the boy with a gunshot wound to the head.
Officers drove the child to the hospital in critical condition. A public information officer says the child was driven by a police sergeant while two other officers worked in the back seat to control the bleeding.
The child was pronounced dead at the hospital, officials say.
"This has got to end," Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said, begging for the shootings to stop. "By people who are committed, who are intent on committing violence in our city is unacceptable."
Police say the shots came from outside and traveled through a window and two walls before hitting the boy, who was sleeping inside. Investigators say there was a shootout with multiple shooters and multiple rounds fired.
"These shooters are going to be identified and they are going to be held accountable for what they did," Major Crimes Commander Vic Joseph said at a Tuesday morning press conference.
Officials are asking for the public's help in solving this murder. There were multiple witnesses, officials say, and now they're calling for people to come forward.
There have been no descriptions of the shooters.
"I can tell you, we will do everything we can with our resources to find out who did this and bring them to justice," Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said.
WATCH: KDKA's Pam Surano reports
"My heart breaks for this young 1-year-old child who was simply laying in his bed and his life taken in this heinous act," said Chief Schubert.
He says his heart goes out to the family and the responding officers.
"This is a baby. This is an innocent, innocent baby," Commander Joseph said.
Police say they've had 10 shootings in the past week. Five of those were homicides. The ages of the victims: 1, 16, 19, 21, and 56 years old. There have been no arrests in any of those shootings.
"This has got to end," said Chief Schubert.
Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich says other agencies have offered help, and the city may take them up on their offers.
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"Please, if you have any piece of information, anything, please come forward," Assistant Police Chief Lavonnie Bickerstaff said.
The shootings are not believed to be directly related. Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich is asking people to think before they pull the trigger.
"Stop and think. Number one: they are going to be caught. Number two: the damage they do to others," he said.
Investigators said they have surveillance video from his latest scene and stressed the importance of the community helping them to solve these crimes.
