HAZEL CREST, Ill. (CBS) — No charges will be filed in the death of a young girl in Hazel Crest, as the shooting that killed her has been ruled accidental.
Erica Gibson, whose family said was soon to turn 13, was shot in a home on Arlington Lane in the south suburb on Saturday night.
Hazel Crest police issued a news release Monday, saying police were called at 10:05 p.m. Saturday after Erica suffered a gunshot wound, and she was taken to Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest where she was pronounced dead.
Her family there did not want to go on camera, but told CBS 2’s Steven Graves on Sunday that Erica was visiting a friend when shot. They were told by authorities the shooting was most likely accidental.
On Tuesday, Hazel Crest police said this was indeed the case. They said it was another case of a young person getting their hands on an unsecured gun.
This was the second shooting of its kind in days in the Chicago area.
This past Thursday, Chicago Police said a 12-year-old boy’s friend accidentally shot him in a high-rise apartment building on Rhodes Avenue near 35th Street in Bronzeville.