Weis Blames 8-Year-Old's Parents in Shooting

By Margaret Lyons in News on Jun 25, 2008 3:37PM

Police Superintendent Jody Weis said yesterday that the parents of 8-year-old shooting victim Josue Torres Jr. are at fault.

"I hate to say it, but the parents are to blame for that 8-year-old being shot. They choose to engage in this activity. Now we have an innocent 8-year-old who is shot...[The boy's step-father is] engaging in gang activity and, more than likely, he's probably breaking some laws. ... As long as we have people who are willing to break the law and engage in criminal activities, these are some of the consequences that we face. We have an innocent boy whose dreams will be shattered, whose family's dreams are shattered and it's horrible and we've got to do something about it."

Josue is in stable condition. He was wounded in a drive-by shooting Monday night while sitting in his step-father's van. Carlos Feliciano, Josue's step-father, says he's not involved in criminal activity, and Weis didn't provide any details or evidence that Feliciano was the intended target. [S-T, WBBM]