Georgia police were on the hunt Monday for whoever shot dead a 3-year-old child in a drive-by attack late last night.



DeKalb County Police said the child's mother – who has not been publicly identified – was driving on Eastland Road near Atlanta around 11:30 p.m. Sunday night when someone pulled up alongside her and shot into the car with what she thought was a paintball gun.

“She found that her child was in the backseat unresponsive and discovered the 3 year-old child had been shot,” DeKalb County Police Chief James Conroy told WSB-TV.

The boy was taken to a local hospital where he later died, and police investigating the vehicle found bullet holes where the child was sitting, the station added.

The mother told police the shooter was driving a gray Dodge Charger.

Police in the area later responded to a report of a vehicle matching that description in southeast Atlanta, but it got away before they could make a stop, according to FOX5 Atlanta.

The identity of the shooter is unknown and police say they have not yet figured out a possible motive.