Boy, 9, dies after accidentally shooting himself on West Side: police

The boy was playing with a gun in a home in the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue when the gun went off, hitting him in the head, police said.

SHARE Boy, 9, dies after accidentally shooting himself on West Side: police
A 9-year-old boy died after being accidentally shot Wednesday inside a home in the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue, Chicago police said.

A 9-year-old boy died after he accidentally shot himself Wednesday inside a home in the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue, Chicago police said.

Madeline Kenney/Sun-Times

A 9-year-old boy was fatally wounded when he accidentally shot himself Wednesday inside an Austin home on the West Side.

The boy was playing with a gun about 1:45 p.m. in the 1500 block of North Lorel Avenue when the gun went off, hitting him in the head, according to Chicago police.

Ashton Lipscomb was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

It was not immediately clear who owned the gun or whether anyone had been taken into custody as Area Five detectives continue to investigate, police said.

La Voz Sidebar

Lea este artículo en español en La Voz Chicago, la sección bilingüe del Sun-Times.
la-voz-cover-photo-2.png

One neighbor said the boy used to ride his bicycle up and down the street. Another said she saw him helping mow the lawn earlier this week.

Devon Guy, who lives down the street, didn’t know the family personally. He said he learned of the accident on the news.

Guy, who has an 11-year-old son, urged people who have guns in their house to keep them away from children.

“People just need to put their stuff up,” he said. “It’s already crazy out here. ... They just need to watch what they do. If you know you have guns in the house, put them up, take the bullets out. There’s kids out here losing their lives. It’s crazy, it’s sad.”

Chicago has seen at least three other shootings this year in which children accidentally shot themselves.

On Sept. 15, a 5-year-old boy shot himself in the thigh after handling a gun inside a home in the Lawndale neighborhood. He was hospitalized in serious condition.

In April, another 5-year-old boy shot himself in his hand after finding a gun in his father’s pocket while his parents slept at their Woodlawn home. His father was later charged with a gun offense and trying to discard the weapon.

In March, a 13-year-old boy shot himself in his leg after handling his older brother’s gun inside their home in the Back of the Yards. The brother drove the child to Stroger Hospital, where he was listed in good condition.

In other accidental shootings involving children, a 7-year-old girl accidentally shot her 11-year-old brother in February in Lawndale after gaining access to the gun. A woman was later charged with child endangerment.

Also in February, an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were accidentally shot by another child after the child found a gun in a Bronzeville home.

In the U.S., there have been at least 221 unintentional shooting by children in 2020, resulting in 92 deaths and 135 injures, according to the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.

The Latest
For the first time since 2019, the water taxi will offer daily service between Ogilvie and Union stations, Michigan Avenue and Chinatown.
Busch found an unconventional way to score in the Cubs’ loss to the Rangers.
The acquisition of Tamarack Farms makes Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge a more impactful destination and creates within Hackmatack a major macrosite for conservation.
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.