DOWNTOWN — The 43-year-old man behind the wheel of a car in a Lake Shore Drive road rage shootout that left a 21-month-old boy shot in the head and fighting for his life was charged with a felony gun violation, police said.
Jushawn Brown, 43, of Englewood, was driving the white Lincoln that had the toddler, Kayden Swann, riding in his car seat in the back seat, police said. He is believed to be the boyfriend of Swann’s grandmother.
He was charged with one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, according to Kellie Bartoli, a Chicago Police spokesman.
Brown was arrested outside Northwestern Memorial Hospital Tuesday morning, shortly after the Lake Shore Drive shooting. Police said he had a 9 mm Bersa handgun on him. After the shooting, Brown’s car crashed on Lake Shore Drive. A good Samaritan who witnessed the crash picked up Brown and the wounded toddler and dashed them to Northwestern in his car.
The shooting that left Swann in critical condition happened around 11 a.m. Tuesday after a road rage incident that included someone in an SUV and Brown’s car. Police are still searching for the other vehicle, Bartoli said.
A police report said the traffic altercation started as far south as 35th and Lake Shore Drive and continued as the cars traveled north. The report said the boy’s grandmother was in the front seat of the white Lincoln and that the car was driven by her boyfriend, who returned fire.
Someone from the SUV began firing shots at the Lincoln near Roosevelt Road and several shots hit the vehicle, with one hitting Swann, the report said.
On Wednesday, Swann was placed on a ventilator and put in an induced coma to protect his brain, officials said outside Lurie Children’s Hospital, where he is being treated.
On Thursday morning, Dr. Marcelo Malakooti said Swann made “some recovery” and is “demonstrating some return in brain activity.”
“While it is still very early to make any meaningful prediction about his total recovery, we are optimistic about the clinical signs we are seeing. We are still in an essential time window to gauge what the path ahead shows however, and he remains in critical condition in our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit,” Malakooti wrote.
Brown is expected in Bond Court Thursday afternoon and Chicago Police are continuing to investigate.