A 5-year-old boy from Chicago died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot early Wednesday morning when he picked up a gun at a relative’s Gary home, according to a release from Gary Police.
Around 8 a.m., police received a report of a shooting in the 2400 block of Fillmore Street, according an email from Gary Police spokesman Cmdr. Sam Roberts. Police detained a 32-year-old Gary man, who said that he was given permission from the people who reside at the home to visit and check on the child and a 17-year-old Chicago girl while the adults were away.
The man told police he arrived at the home earlier in the morning after a night out and placed his gun down before falling asleep, the release said. He told police that he woke up when he heard a loud noise, saw the child was shot and believed that the child accidentally shot himself.
The man drove the child to the hospital for treatment, but the child died from his injuries, police said.
The boy’s name has not been released by the Lake County Coroner’s Office, pending notification of his family.
Gary Police are working with the Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Unit and are asking for anyone with information about this incident to please contact (219) 755-3855.
In a separate incident on Aug. 27, Gary Police were called to a restaurant in the 4300 block of Broadway and found a 53-year-old Gary man with a gunshot wound in the front passenger side of his car, Roberts said in an email. The victim told the police that he, his 46-year-old girlfriend, their son and a family friend were at the business when he and the girlfriend started arguing.
She got out of the car to grab his order, and as they continued fighting, she got out of the car a second time, pulled out a gun and shot him, Roberts said. The girlfriend was arrested at the scene, he said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
