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Chicago Bulls player Dwyane Wade speaks during a news conference Friday, July 29, 2016, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Tae-Gyun Kim)
While NBA star Dwyane Wade's return to his hometown of Chicago was reason to celebrate, the family is grieving after losing a member to gun violence this week.
On Friday, Wade's cousin was shot and killed in Chicago. According to USA Today, she was pushing her baby in a stroller by a school where she planned to register her kids.
Nykea Aldridge, 32, was caught in the crossfire as an innocent bystander: two males were shooting at a third male, and Aldridge was hit in the head and the arm as an unintended target. She had just recently moved to the city's South Side, which is where the shooting occurred.
The baby was unharmed, and is being cared for by family members. Police said they are questioning witnesses but don't have any suspects in custody.
Wade is a native of Chicago, and he just signed a contract with the Chicago Bulls after 13 years with the Miami Heat. A day before the shooting, he participated in an ESPN-hosted town hall meeting in Chicago on gun violence. He sent out a tweet to express his grief from the shooting.
"My cousin was killed today in Chicago. Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughIsEnough," he tweeted.
Chicago's epidemic of gun violence has gone on for years, with the South and West sides being hit the worst. The city recorded 65 murders in July alone - the most in any July since 2006. The number of homicides this year was at 381 by the end of July, which is 30 percent higher than that time in 2015.
