A 17-year-old boy is accused of shooting at two people — striking one of them — last week when the pair came to collect payment in Lake County for shoes the boy had bought.
The 17-year-old resident of unincorporated Gurnee on Monday was charged as a juvenile with a felony count of aggravated discharge of a firearm and a felony count of aggravated assault, the Lake County sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The Sun-Times is not naming him because he is charged as a juvenile.
The confrontation happened about 5 p.m. Sept. 5 in the 17700 block of West Horseshoe Lane.
The pair, both 17, approached the home of the 17-year-old resident to collect money for shoes the pair sold him two weeks prior, the sheriff’s office said. The three had all attended the same school.
After the 17-year-old resident opened his door, he flashed a handgun in his waistband, reached for it and began fighting with the pair, the sheriff’s office said. The 17-year-old resident fired one shot, striking one of the boys in the inner thigh. The pair fled the scene.
The boy who was shot tied to treat the gunshot wound on his own, but a sheriff’s detective who later spoke with him noticed the injury and made sure he got medical attention, the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff’s office initially said that no one had been hit by gunfire.
That evening, a firearm was recovered, the sheriff’s office said. The juvenile is being held at the Hulse Juvenile Detention Facility in Vernon Township pending a detention hearing.