2 boys, 4 and 15, die in ‘ unrelated’ East Chicago shootings
Two boys, a 4- year- old and a teenager, were shot to death less than a mile apart in Northwest Indiana in a span of a few hours, but authorities say the incidents are not related.
The 4- year- old died after being shot early Thursday in his family’s East Chicago home, according to East Chicago police, hours after the teen was fatally shot nearby.
In the younger child’s death, officers responded a few minutes after midnight to a report of “an assault with a firearm” in the 3500 block of Guthrie Street, according to East Chicago Police Detective Sgt. Terence Fife.
The mother of Garrion Glover Jr. told officers she was asleep in her bedroom with her boyfriend when they heard a noise coming from the living room, Fife said. She got up to see what was going on and found her son lying on the floor bleeding near the couch.
The boy’s uncle, who was sleeping on the couch at the time, told police he also heard a noise before being awakened by his sister, Fife said.
Garrion was taken to Saint Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, where he died at 3: 05 a. m., accord- ing to the Lake County ( Ind.) coroner’s office. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the neck but did not rule whether it was a homicide or an accident.
Police would not confirm media reports that cited the boy’s grandmother as saying that Garrion accidentally shot himself.
The uncle, 22, was taken into custody on unrelated charges and was also being questioned about the shooting, according to police, who said it was not clear who owned the gun.
In the earlier death, officers responding to a disturbance at Columbus Drive and Main Street in East Chicago about 7: 23 p. m. Wednesday were met by several boys, who yelled out that their friend had been shot in a basement, Fife said.
Police ran down the stairs of an abandoned basement apartment and found the teen.
Robert Thompson, 15, of East Chicago, was pronounced dead at the scene in the 1900 block of East Columbus, according to the coroner’s office. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the head, and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the coroner’s office.