ENGLEWOOD — A 7-year-old boy died Sunday afternoon after accidentally shooting himself in the head, police said.
The boy was shot around 3:50 p.m. Sunday in the 6700 block of South Aberdeen Street, according to Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.
He was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Pacheco said.
Cook County Medical Examiners identified the boy as Devon Lofton, who lived in the house where the shooting occurred.
The boy was playing with the gun with his brother when it went off, and the other child ran to a neighbor for help, relatives told the Sun-Times.
Kokeitha Fields, who lives on the same block where the shooting took place, said the social media comments about the shooting shows a double standard due to the family living in Englewood.
“There was a lot of things on Twitter and Facebook that unnerved me. They don’t know [the mother] personally,” Fields said. “I know the mother personally. There’s nothing bad I can say about her because she’s a good parent overall.”
Fields, who works two jobs, has lived in Englewood since 1984. She said Lofton’s mother shouldn’t be held responsible for the shooting.
“That gun could have been found anywhere. You can’t blame her or anyone in the house,” Fields said. “Sometimes kids do things behind their parent's back without them even knowing.”
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