6-year-old shoots young sibling in Chicago

New York, Oct 19: A six-year-old boy shot his younger sibling while playing in their home in Chicago, a media report said.

The father of the kids, Michael Santiago, 25, was charged with felony child endangerment in connection with the shooting. He is being held on a $75,000 bail, the Chicago Tribune reported on Sunday.

"Santiago, a manager at a restaurant and a former Spanish gang member, a week prior to the incident, had showed the elder child where he kept the gun. The gun was kept loaded and wrapped in pajama pants on top of the refrigerator," prosecutor Joseph DiBella was quoted as saying.

He told his son that the gun was for protection and is used by adults, DiBella said.

According to police, both the parents were out while the kids were playing "cops and robbers" on Saturday.

The six-year-old saw the gun, took it and fired in the direction of his three-year-old sibling.

"This is the ultimate tragedy," Cook county Judge James Brown said.

"A $1 million bond or a lower bond is not going to bring back the child... I am sure the defendant did not intend for this to happen, but it happened. And this is what happens when people have guns who should not have it," he added.

Santiago will be presented next in the court on Friday.

IANS