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There’s news this morning about the tragic shooting death of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee in Chicago.

A man police are calling “a person of interest” has turned himself in.

On Monday Tyshawn was carrying a football and was just a few blocks from his grandmother’s house when he was gunned down.

His life sadly ended in an alley next to a trash can.

He had multiple gunshot wounds.

Police are investigating whether the 4th-grader may have been deliberately targeted.

Sources tell CNN affiliate ABC 7 that there are two theories which both involve possible gang activity.

One theory is that the boy was a target because of a relative’s gang involvement.

Another theory is that he simply stumbled into gang activity.

The boy’s dad, Pierre Stokes says he believes his son’s death wasn’t random.

“As far as if it was a target.  If he wasn’t a target he wouldn’t have got hit so many times in the back of the face.  Know what I’m saying.  I think he was a target.”

Police are now asking for the public’s help.

They are blanketing the neighborhood with what they’re calling a community intervention.

They say they want to attack the conditions that lead to this type of violence and prevents people from coming forward.

CNN affiliate ABC 7 asked mother Jasmine Moie about that as she stopped by the makeshift memorial in the alley with her son who was a student at Tyshawn’s school.

She says she walks around in fear of her and her son’s lives and wonders why no one has come forward in the so called “no snitching” climate on the dangerous streets.

 

Moie- “Is we even safe now standing here?  Is they gonna come back.  I don’t know. I don’t have nothing to say about it.

Reporter- “Is that why people stay silent?

Moie- “Maybe.”

Community activist have raised a reward of at least $20,000 but as of the writing of this article there is no confirmation that the person who turned himself in is involved, and there are still no charges.

Tyshawn’s mother, Kara Lee, is also pleading for the public’s help and for the gun violence to stop.

“If anybody that knows anything that happened, please come forward and find whoever did this to my baby.”

“Please put the guns down, please.  It’s taking too many young lives, please.  I’m only 26.  This is my only baby, my only baby.”

She also posted a heartbreaking Facebook post that’s almost to devastating to listen to.

“Thanks to everybody that donated. Thanks for all y’all’s support.  I never knew I would have to bury my son this early.  All I can do is just pray and just hope (crying).  Thanks for everybody that’s helping out. It hurts. It hurts. I miss my son so bad. My God.”

Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel had some very harsh words for the person or persons responsible, saying, “Whoever did this, there is a special place for them. I hope they never see freedom. I hope they never see daylight.”

But he’s got his work cut out for a lot of people who should never see daylight because according to The Chicago tribune, which allows readers to compare violence in each neighborhood and updates shooting incident data several times a week, as of Tuesday, 2,578 people had been shot since January 1, 2015.

Tyshawn’s death added one more to the 420 homicides in Chicago this year.

His is the 421st, though he’s not just a number, but a piece of his loved one’s hearts – a piece of America’s hearts.

This bull$&!+ has to stop!!!

    Don Lemon on 9-Year Old Gunned Down In Chicago: “This Bulls&!+ Has To Stop!”  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com