Police are searching for a gray car after gunfire struck a 32-year-old passenger traveling with her family.
CHICAGO — A 32-year-old woman was critically wounded Thursday morning when someone in another vehicle opened fire on the car carrying her family in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood, police said, as investigators searched for the shooter and examined whether road rage preceded the attack.
The shooting happened about 9:30 a.m. Oct. 22 in the 2400 block of West 47th Street. Chicago police said the woman was a passenger when a gray car pulled alongside the vehicle and someone inside began shooting. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. Police reported no other injuries.
Fifteenth Ward Ald. Raymond Lopez said the woman’s husband and two of their children were also in the vehicle. Lopez said the information available to him pointed to an apparent road-rage encounter rather than a gang-related attack, although police had not announced a motive as a confirmed finding. The circumstances that led up to the gunfire remained under investigation.
Surveillance video obtained by local news organizations showed a vehicle closely following the family’s minivan before the shooting. Lopez said the encounter may have begun several blocks before the vehicles reached the area near West 47th Street and South Western Avenue. Investigators were working to determine the route the vehicles traveled and what happened before shots were fired.
Lopez told the Chicago Sun-Times that the woman’s husband was helping police identify public and private surveillance cameras that could have recorded additional portions of the encounter. Investigators could use those recordings to establish a clearer timeline and track the vehicle that fled after the shooting.
Witness information shared by Lopez described the suspected vehicle as a gray four-door Toyota Scion with a rear bike rack. Police said the vehicle fled south on Western Avenue. Authorities had not publicly identified a suspected shooter or announced an arrest as of the latest reports.
The presence of the woman’s husband and children in the vehicle added to concerns about the potential consequences of the shooting. Lopez said none of the children was believed to have been physically injured. Police likewise said no additional injuries were reported.
The woman underwent surgery after the shooting, Lopez told NBC Chicago. Her name had not been publicly released, and officials had not provided additional details about her medical condition beyond describing her as critically injured.
Police continued processing evidence and reviewing surveillance footage after the shooting. Area 1 detectives are investigating, and authorities had not announced any arrests or a confirmed motive as of the latest available update.
Author note: Last updated October 23, 2026.