10-year-old boy allegedly fires shot at Chicago police during Beverly SWAT situation
CHICAGO - Late Monday morning, Chicago police officers got a call about a person in distress and shots fired in a South Side home. The shooter was a 10-year-old boy suffering some kind of mental health crisis.
The boy even fired a shot at officers, but with deescalation tactics and a quite a bit of luck, no one was hurt.
"Luckily, by the grace of God, we had a peaceful ending, but this could've gone such a different direction," said 19th Ward Alderman Matt O'Shea.
19th Ward Alderman Matt O'Shea says when officers arrived at the family's home on the 9800 block of S. Charles in Beverly, they at first had trouble getting through to the 10-year-old with a gun when they tried to engage him in a dialogue.
"The young boy was at one point firing the weapon inside the home where multiple family members were. At one point, he had the gun to his own head," said O'Shea.
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Police said the boy fired several shots, including at least one at responding officers, and another that appears to have hit the home next door. Eventually, they fired less lethal bean-bag rounds toward the house – which didn't hit the child – and then they fired a chemical at the porch, which scared the boy.
The boy dropped the gun and was taken into custody.
"Clearly this is a young child in a mental health crisis," said O'Shea . "It's scary to think this could happen in a neighborhood like ours, but it happened today."
"It's scary," said neighbor Maurie Sims. "I have twin granddaughters that are ten. The same age as this young boy. And for that to happen, what's wrong? What's going on with this young kid?"
"I just hope this little boy gets the help that he needs," said O'Shea.
The boy who fired the shots is physically unharmed, but he was admitted to the hospital for mental health treatment, where he's with his family.
Alderman O'Shea said he hopes the incident serves as a reminder for parents to keep their firearms secure.