Judge to man who shot himself in foot: 'You're a fool!'

A Cook County judge used the word “fool” to describe a man who shot himself in the foot while at home drinking Saturday night in the Austin neighborhood.

“What are you looking at me for? You’re a fool!” Judge Adam Bourgeois said at a bond hearing Sunday as Kendrick Hegwood, 31, stood before him — on crutches.

“That bullet could have gone through a window and hit an innocent person . . . You kill yourself, that’s your own business,” Bourgeois said. He set bail at $100,000 and offered the option of home confinement.

Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Karr said Hegwood was trying to uncock the gun when it fired.

A relative called 911, and when police arrived about 11 p.m. and asked Hegwood if he shot himself, he replied: “Yes, I shot myself, but why am I arrested for shooting myself?”

Hegwood, who is a registered gun owner, was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm.