Chicago teenager shot in head dies after paramedics leave live body under sheet, police say

Authorities s are investigating the incident

Emily Shugerman
New York
Thursday 21 June 2018 08:28 BST
Father of Erin Carey speaks out: 'Chicago Fire Department dropped the ball on my son'

A teenage boy in Chicago died after being shot in the head and left under a sheet by paramedics while he was still moving, police said.

Emergency services responded to a shooting early on Monday morning which left six people injured, including 17-year-old Erin Carey.

The paramedics covered Erin’s body with a white sheet for more than an hour while tending to other patients, according to local news reports. They only returned to his side when his arms and legs began twitching, eliciting screams from those standing on the edge of the crime scene.

Paramedics began administering chest compressions and rushed the teenager to the hospital on full life support, according to the Chicago Tribune. Doctors pronounced him dead early the next morning.

Chicago Police First Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio told reporters the teenager suffered a “catastrophic injury”, causing paramedics to believe he had died.

“I do understand that paramedics looked at him, believed him to be deceased, covered him with that sheet and moved on to another individual who was nearby who was also shot,” Mr Riccio said.

He added: “They saw motion, movement underneath the sheet. Officers who were present notified paramedics, this man is still alive."

A spokesperson for the fire department, however, told ABC7 that the initial triage team had determined Erin was mortally wounded and could not be saved, but was not dead.

An officer could be heard on 911 audio telling paramedics that the teenager appeared to move "from side to side" under his sheet, according to CNN.

"He is responsive," the officer said. "He just moved ... So he is not dead."

"We'll have a unit go down and check on that male," a dispatcher responded.

A spokesperson from the police department told The Independent they were investigating the incident. The fire department did not respond to requests for comment, but a spokesperson told local news outlets they were also investigating.

Erin had just graduated from high school in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, his family’s pastor, who recalled the 17-year-old as a “friendly, respectful, quiet good-looking kid”, said.

Eric McClendon, Erin’s former youth soccer coach, said he was “heartbroken” by the news.

“About a week ago he was talking about how he wanted to play a game of football with all of his former teammates and getting together and doing that and having fun," Mr McClendon said.

A woman in her twenties also died in the shooting on Monday, according to police. Four other men were injured.

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