A 20-year-old man was shot in the back after a gunman accidentally shot the victim while holding a loaded ghost gun as a group drove from Lake Forest to Waukegan, officials said.
The Waukegan Police Department dispatch center received a 911 call on Wednesday from a man reporting that his friend was shot while they were driving, according to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell.
The caller reported they were driving when it occurred and were now driving through Waukegan to go to Vista Medical Center East.
Officers responded and located the car at Elmwood Avenue and Grand Avenue in Waukegan.
The Waukegan Fire Department responded and paramedics transported the 20-year-old male victim to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
He suffered a gunshot wound to his back and was taken into surgery, McConnell said. He was classified as stable following surgery.
Officers spoke with the three other occupants of the car, who initially told police they were shot at.
No damage to the exterior of the vehicle was located that would be consistent with the claim that they were shot at. A shell casing was located in the rear seat area of the vehicle.
Officers canvassed the area and located a satchel and a cell phone with a bullet hole in a garbage can behind a grocery store in the 1800 block of Grand Avenue, which was approximately 50 feet from where the car had stopped, McConnell said.
Two firearms were located in the satchel, including a 9mm Polymer 80 pistol with no serial number, which is commonly known as a ghost gun.
The front seat passenger told investigators that the four of them had gone to Lake Forest to play basketball, McConnell said.
He said that they were driving to drop him off at home when Moshe M. Gills, 20, of Waukegan, accidentally shot the driver as he sat behind him.
McConnell said the driver yelled that he had been hit and they stopped the car.
The victim got into the backseat next to Gills, who held pressure on the victim’s wound, and a juvenile occupant drove the car towards Vista hospital while one of the occupants called 911.
Prosecutors did not say where exactly the car was when the shooting occurred.
The juvenile driver threw the satchel containing the gun involved out the window of the car as they were driving, McConnell said.
The group decided that was a bad idea so two of the occupants got out of the car and retrieved the satchel but one of them then ditched it behind the building where police later found it.
Gills told police he was seated behind the driver while driving one of their friends home after playing basketball.
McConnell said Gills admitted that the ghost gun recovered was his firearm and that he was holding it in his right hand and his phone in his left hand.
He said the gun started to slip out of his hand and he went to try to keep his grip on it and accidentally pulled the trigger, causing it to discharge and strike the victim, McConnell said.
The bullet first hit Gills’ cellphone and caused it to break, injuring his own hand.
Gills does not have a Firearm Owner’s Identification or a concealed carry license and is under the age of 21.
Gills was charged with four counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Gills pending trial.
“This Defendant is incredibly lucky that he did not kill his friend based on his decision to possess a firearm that was not only loaded while driving around, but also with one in the chamber while carrying it in such a way that led to this result of this Defendant pulling the trigger and shooting his friend,” McConnell said.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition following a detention hearing where Gills’ attorney, Robert T. Ritacca, had argued for his client’s release from custody.
Ritacca said he does not dispute that Gills was illegally in possession of a firearm but said that Gills’ actions were an accident and he does not have a criminal history. “It is very, very serious and we understand that.”
Gills remained at the scene and provided first aid to his friend after the shooting, Ritacca said. “This is a monumental mistake in his life.”
Gills remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear for court again on Tuesday afternoon.