A 3 year old boy was shot dead last weekend by his 6 year old brother playing 'cowboys and Indians' with their father's gun.
Eian Santiago
Tragedy struck when a 3-year-old was accidentally shot by his 6-year-old brother during a gun play.
The incident happened when the two kids were playing at their father's home in Chicago when the older brother grabbed the loaded handgun from the top of the fridge and shot the 3-year-old brother in the face. The boy, Eian Santiago was rushed to the hospital after the accident on Saturday evening, but died later that night.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said: "It's real simple: if that gun is not in the house that kid is alive today. We see this happen over and over again."
The father of the boys, Michael Santiago, has been arrested for child endangerment. He told police that he had bought the gun for protection. The police had insisted that if the gun was not in the house, the dead boy would be alive today.
Police blamed the father for keeping the gun on top of the refrigerator from where the son had taken it from before shooting his own brother.
Chicago has more murders than any other city in the US. As of the beginning of October, there had been 370 deaths since the start of the year – compared to 306 over the same period in 2014.
The officer claims sentences for gun possession are not harsh enough, meaning dangerous criminals can be back on Chicago's streets within a matter of weeks.
Santiago's bail has been set at $75,000 (£48,600).