A witness told investigators a 9-year-old boy pointed a gun at his head and accidentally shot himself inside a crowded Washington Heights home on New Year’s Day, according to a police report.
The account of the shooting came from another child who told investigators that Jarvis Watts was playing with the gun when it went off Sunday evening inside a bedroom at the home in the 9400 block of South Wallace Street, the report states.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office found Jarvis died from multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide. Police have labeled the shooting a death investigation, as opposed to a homicide investigation.
Another person at the scene told police she wasn’t aware there was a gun in the home, the report states. Officers didn’t recover a firearm.
They did find a spent .45-caliber shell casing and an unused .40-caliber casing, according to a second police report. Several people, including adults and children, were in the home at the time of the shooting, and a 27-year-old man left before police arrived.
The two reports include some conflicting information about the moment the gunfire erupted.
In one report, a witness reported hearing a “loud pop” from upstairs and then finding the boy on the floor. In the other report, someone said they told the children to get dressed and then heard screaming. That’s when Jarvis reportedly came down the stairs and collapsed on the living room floor.
Family and friends gathered Tuesday and released balloons near the home to honor Jarvis.
