Woman found with gunshot wound in Park Ridge accidentally shot herself

A 19-year-old woman who told police in northwest suburban Park Ridge that she was shot during a robbery in Chicago on Monday actually made up the story after accidentally shooting herself, police said Friday.

Officers responded at 8:45 a.m. to a person shot in the 100 block of North Meacham Avenue, Park Ridge police said Monday.

They found the Lake County resident with a gunshot wound to the left leg being treated at the scene by Park Ridge Fire Department paramedics before she was taken to Lutheran General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Carlos Ochoa, a 19-year-old North Chicago resident, was with the victim, and told police they “were victims of a robbery in Chicago and that the woman’s injuries were sustained during that robbery,” police said in a statement Friday.

But investigators later figured out there had been no robbery, and the shooting was “the result of an accidental discharge while the victim was handling the gun, inside the car, near a motel in Chicago,” police said.

Ochoa then drove her to Park Ridge to seek medical help.

On Friday, he was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct for lying to police.