About 55 people have been shot in Chicago since the holiday weekend began Wednesday. Nine of the shooting victims suffered fatal wounds, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Jaden Donald, 5, was running through a Chicago park toward his mother when he was shot in the stomach and in his right leg before he could reach her, according to the Huffington Post.

Jaden had been playing in the park when the shooting occurred near midnight on Thursday.

"This senseless shooting needs to stop," said Jasmine Donald, Jaden’s mother. "It's just senseless. This makes me want to go back in the house with my kids and never go out. Why would you do something like this? Why? All these kids and innocent people out here, why?"

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The gunshot wounds left Jaden in critical condition at the hospital, and he has had to undergo surgery because of them.

Another young boy was shot in a different park earlier that same Thursday. Christian Lyles, 7, was reportedly wounded by a bullet in the neck and was also brought to a hopsital where he is now in critical condition.

Sources: Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune

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