Boy, 16 months, dies after shooting in West Palm; police offer $10,000 reward for information
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West Palm Beach Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person or persons responsible for the death of a 16-month-old boy who died Friday after he was shot in the chest Thursday evening.
The boy, along with his mother and father, were sitting in a vehicle around 6 p.m. Thursday in an alleyway south of 4th Street and west of Douglass Avenue in West Palm when at least one shooter approached the car and fired a weapon, according to Mike Jachles, public information officer with the West Palm Beach Police Department.
The boy’s mother was grazed by a bullet and taken to the hospital and was eventually released. The man in the car was not hurt.
The gunman fled the scene and has not been captured.
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“This was not a random act,” Jachles said in a media briefing Friday afternoon. “Someone in that vehicle was targeted. There is no threat to the neighborhood. We are determined to find out who is responsible.”
Jachles said the boy died Friday morning after surgery despite attempts to save his life.
“No words can describe what that family is going through,” Jachles said. “The killing of an innocent 16-month-old is tragic … I can’t even imagine.”
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Jachles said police were in the area and responded when they heard shots. The boy was in the back seat while his father, 20, was in the driver’s seat and the mother, 20, was in the front passenger seat.
The father drove to Good Samaritan Hospital while the baby was transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he underwent surgery, but died Friday around 7 a.m.
Jachles did not offer specifics on what police know about the investigation, including either a motive or how many shots were fired, other than the shooting was not random.
He said the parents have been cooperating with police.
It is the fourth shooting homicide in the city of West Palm Beach, according to The Palm Beach Post’s homicide database.
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To be eligible for the $10,000 West Palm Beach Police Department reward, anyone with information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the suspect must contact Detective Aaron Sam at 561-822-1675 or [email protected] or Detective Darrin MacCarthy at 561-822-1666 or [email protected].
Tips can anonymously be called in to Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 800-458-TIPS (8477). Tips to Crime Stoppers that lead to an arrest can result in a cash reward up to $3,000.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously online to crimestopperspbc.com.
@jimcoleman11
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Toddler shot in West Palm; police offer $10K reward
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