5-year-old boy dies after accessing unsecured gun inside apartment
A 5-year-old boy is dead after he accessed an unsecured gun inside an apartment in the 4400 block of South Greenwood Avenue in the Kenwood neighborhood.
By Jeramie Bizzle, Victor Hacobo
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CHICAGO, Illinois (WBBM) — A 5-year-old boy is dead after he accessed an unsecured gun inside an apartment on Chicago’s South Side on Sunday afternoon.
The shooting happened around 1:17 p.m. in the 4400 block of South Greenwood Avenue in the Kenwood neighborhood.
Police were called to the apartment complex after the boy suffered a gunshot wound to the head inside an apartment. A police source told CBS News Chicago the boy accidentally shot himself.
He was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where he was in critical condition and later died.
The family told a gun victim’s advocate that the boy started kindergarten just last week. A gun was recovered at the scene.
“This one in particular is tragic, sudden, family in shock, just shocking to us all,” Pastor Donovan Price said.
Price works with victims of violence and said the family is devastated. He hopes the incident raises awareness of the importance of reducing the risk of children’s access to firearms in their own homes.
“When a child is in the house, you have to do everything. It’s just like child-proofing the house with the electrical system in the house. You have to go the extra mile,” he said
No arrests were made.
A gun victim’s advocate also told us this incident highlights the importance of gun locks in helping reduce the risk of children shooting a gun. Gun locks are available at no cost through the Chicago Department of Public Health.
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