5 Teens Crash Into Tree After Little Boy Shot In Joliet: Police

JOLIET, IL —A 6-year-old boy suffered a gunshot to his arm early Sunday evening during a drive-by shooting near several apartment buildings off McDonough Street. Joliet police later tracked down the getaway car to the Briggs Street exit, and it crashed into a tree, leaving three suspects with serious injuries, according to Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English.

Five teens, all ages 16 to 18, were in the getaway car and three of them are being charged with crimes:

A 17-year-old boy is charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding.

A 16-year-old boy is charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of ammunition and having no FOID.

Darrell Harris, 18, of Joliet, was arrested on a charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of ammunition and having no FOID.

Joliet police also recovered a rifle and one gun from their getaway car, police revealed.

"All three arrestees remain hospitalized with serious injuries at this time," English said in Monday afternoon's news release.

Around 5:40 p.m., police went to the 500 block of Bellarmine Drive West for shots fired. The little boy suffered a grazed wound to his right arm, English said.

A Joliet Fire Department ambulance rushed the 6-year-old boy to St. Joe's hospital as Joliet officers found several spent shell casings along Bellarmine Drive.

Two unoccupied parked vehicles and three nearby apartments were also hit with the gunfire.

Elsewhere in Joliet, police officers spotted the getaway vehicle near North Scott Street and Clay Street, but the driver hit the gas and fled toward Larkin Avenue and Interstate 80, police noted.

After traveling eastbound I-80 to Briggs Street, the fleeing shooting suspects turned south on Briggs Street, near Mills Road, and that's where the car lost control and hit a tree on the south side of the road, according to English.

"The shooting incident that occurred in the 500 block of Bellarmine West continues to be under active investigation and for this reason, no further information will be shared," he announced.