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Man Killed After Being Hit In Face By Firework In South Side Alley

By Kelly Bauer | July 5, 2017 7:54am | Updated on July 7, 2017 11:16am

CHICAGO — A man was killed by a firework during Fourth of July celebrations in Gage Park on Tuesday night, police said.

At 9:30 p.m., the man was in an alley in the 2500 block of West 54th Street when his face was injured while he handled a firework, police said. The man was taken to Holy Cross Hospital.

David Griffin, 42, of the same block where he was killed, was pronounced dead at 9:54 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. An autopsy showed he died from craniocerebral injuries in an accident caused by fireworks.

No other injuries were reported.

Neighbor Leo Jacquez told CBS2 he came outside from his house when he heard "some big booms."

"Me and my kids walked to the alley and we saw some kids, some teenagers and maybe a couple adults," Jacquez said.

ABC7 reported that the man's son witnessed the accident and that the explosion came after the father went to the explosive to see why it hadn't fired.

Meanwhile, a man in his 40's lost part of his hand in a fireworks incident in the Kilbourn Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side and a man in his 30s was injured when a firework exploded in his hand in Humboldt Park, the Tribune reported.