Man charged after son finds gun, fatally shoots 3-year-old brother

A father was arrested after his 6-year-old son found a loaded gun and accidentally shot his 3-year-old brother in the head Saturday night in their Humboldt Park neighborhood home on the West Side

Michael Santiago, 25, has been charged with one felony count of child endangerment causing death, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

Santiago stored the loaded gun on top of a refrigerator in their home in the 1000 block of North Francisco, police said.

His sons were playing cops and robbers at 9:05 p.m. Saturday when the older boy saw the gun, grabbed it and accidentally shot his younger brother, 3-year-old Eian H. Santiago, in the head, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A family member carried Eian to Norwegian American Hospital. The boy was transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, where Eian was pronounced dead at 11:48 p.m., authorities said. More than a dozen people gathered outside Sinai early Sunday, crying and hugging, as they waited to hear news of the boy’s condition.

Santiago is a former gang member and got the gun from another gang member, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Santiago told authorities he had the gun in the home for protection.

The Chicago Anti-Gun Enforcement unit is looking into the history of the gun and additional charges may be filed against Santiago, Guglielmi said.

Santiago was ordered held on a $75,000 bond in court Sunday.