The sunny holiday weekend was shattered midday Sunday when someone opened fire on a car in Downtown Pittsburgh, killing the 18-month-old baby who was inside with his mother.

The infant was pronounced dead at the scene. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the child as De’Avry Thomas.

Officials said in a late-evening media briefing that the vehicle from which the shots were fired was found on Tinsbury Street in the city’s Troy Hill neighborhood.

Assistant Chief Lavonnie Bickerstaff provided a short update on the investigation, and Mayor Ed Gainey and U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung pledged continued support from local and federal agencies.

Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt attended the briefing but did not speak.

The shooting happened just before 2:45 p.m. at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Stanwix Street, not far from PPG Place and Market Square.

• Man charged in Downtown Pittsburgh drive-by that killed 1-year-old

Bickerstaff said the suspect or suspects did have an intended target, though she later said that target was not the child’s mother.

“Of course the baby was not the intended target,” she said, noting that “the individuals that were in the car that committed the crime – there was a target but I can’t go into who it was. But it was not the mother.”

It was not clear whether the intended target might have been in the vehicle that was fired upon, a black Jeep.

Bickerstaff did not provide a description of any possible suspect or suspects, nor did she elaborate on what investigators might have found in the vehicle.

“I can say that we have collected evidence and the investigation is ongoing,” she said.

Bickerstaff and Gainey both decried the sheer number of guns in the streets.

“It has a lot to do with irresponsible gun ownership (and) straw purchases, especially here in the city of Pittsburgh, and guns making their way to the hands of young people who are not using them as they should be,” she said.

Gainey pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.

“I cannot imagine the grief that this family is experiencing, losing an 18-month-old baby,” he said. “But I want to show our city that we’re going to do everything that we can to make this summer safe, especially for our children. These acts of violence cannot and will not hold our city hostage. Enough is enough.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 412-323-7161.

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