A 13-year-old boy is in critical condition after police say a 9-year-old boy shot him inside a home in the 4200 block of South Wells Street in Fuller Park Thursday afternoon. Officers say the shooting happened around 4 p.m. when the two children were alone inside the residence with a firearm.
The 9-year-old fired a single shot that struck the older boy in the shoulder, according to police, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. The 13-year-old was rushed to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition, per the same report. A handgun was recovered at the scene, and detectives are now investigating exactly how the 9-year-old came to have access to it.
A Block With a Painful History
The 4200 block of South Wells Street is no stranger to gunfire. In June 2023, a shootout on the same block left 14-year-old Pierre Johnson dead and four others wounded, and a woman, 22, was killed there in July 2020, according to CBS Chicago. Residents have previously organized rallies against the violence plaguing the street. The area falls under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Police Department's 9th (Deering) District, with major case investigations handled by Area One Detectives, headquartered nearby at 5101 S. Wentworth Avenue in Fuller Park.
Fuller Park itself is one of the smallest of Chicago's community areas, spanning just 0.71 square miles and home to fewer than 2,800 residents. Despite that tiny footprint, an April 2024 analysis by The Trace found Fuller Park among three Chicago neighborhoods recording some of the highest gun violence levels in its recorded history since 2010, with median household income in the neighborhood remaining well below the citywide average. Weapon offenses involving unlawful handgun possession made up 12.1% of all reported crimes in Fuller Park in 2026, second only to simple assault, according to crime-tracking service Safemap.
Why Trauma Center Access Matters
The teen's transport to University of Chicago Medical Center carries its own significance for South Side shooting victims. The hospital reopened its Level I Adult Trauma Center in May 2018 after nearly three decades without one in the area, and a May 2026 study published in JAMA Surgery found the center's opening reduced South Side shooting deaths by nearly 4% while cutting transit times by 9.5 minutes, according to the Hyde Park Herald.
What Illinois Law Says About Unsecured Guns
Illinois expanded its child access prevention law, 720 ILCS 5/24-9, effective January 1, 2026, making it illegal for a gun owner to store or leave a firearm unsecured where a minor under 18 is likely to gain access without parental permission if that minor causes death or great bodily harm. A first offense carries a Class C misdemeanor charge and a minimum $1,000 fine, per the Illinois State Police. Under the state's Pretrial Fairness Act, which eliminated cash bail statewide in September 2023, a misdemeanor storage violation would typically lead to a citation or pretrial release rather than custodial detention unless felony criteria are met, Hoodline has reported.
The incident also fits into broader national data on children and firearms. Research published in Pediatrics and reported by NBC News found that 70% of 5- to 6-year-olds and 90% of 7- to 8-year-olds have enough trigger-pull strength to fire a handgun, since more than 62% of standard handguns require under 5 pounds of force to discharge. Everytown for Gun Safety's #NotAnAccident Index recorded more than 400 unintentional shootings by children nationwide in 2023, a record high, while the group's research shows that households securing both firearms and ammunition see an 85% reduction in unintentional child gun injuries.
Part of a Wider Late-Summer Pattern
Thursday's shooting adds to a string of recent cases involving young gunshot victims on Chicago's South Side. Hoodline previously reported on a 13-year-old shot inside an Englewood home on August 19, an 11-year-old wounded in an Englewood drive-by the day before, and a 14-year-old shot in Morgan Park on August 13. Fuller Park has also seen other recent violence, including a stabbing that left a 57-year-old man with a chest wound in late August and a shooting in June that left a 39-year-old in critical condition after a face shot.
No charges have been announced in Thursday's shooting, and it remains unclear whether Area One detectives will pursue action against whoever owned or controlled the firearm found at the scene. Police have not released further details about the relationship between the two boys or how the younger child obtained access to the gun.
