6-Year-Old Fatally Shoots Little Brother During 'Cops And Robbers' Game

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Oct 19, 2015 1:45PM

A 3-year-old boy from Humboldt Park was tragically shot and killed by his 6-year-old brother Saturday night as the pair played 'cops and robbers' with a real gun their father had allegedly obtained illegally from Chicago gangs.

In the ongoing national debate over how to stem the bloodshed from illegal gun use in America, one grim statistic is sometimes overlooked: Roughly once every week in 2015 a child has been shot because young children with access to guns are—often accidentally—shooting themselves or their playmates, according to a Washington Post analysis.

The six-year-old found a revolver in their home and accidentally shot his younger brother in the head around 9:05 p.m., police said. The young boy was taken to Norwegian hospital and later Mt. Sinai hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The boys' father, Michael Santiago, 25, was arrested on one felony count of child endangerment and death, according to police.

Prosecutors at Santiago's court hearing Sunday said the man bought the gun off the street for protection against gangs and kept it hidden on top of his refrigerator wrapped in pajama pants, according to the Associated Press. Santiago's bail was set at $75,000.

"It's real simple," Police Chief Garry McCarthy told the Associated Press in a phone interview. "If that gun is not in the house that kid is alive today. We see this happen over and over and over again."

McCarthy and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have been calling for tougher gun laws to address the city's entrenched gun violence problem, even as other public officials contend that the department's policing strategies are to blame.