A 19-year-old man, armed with two guns because he thought it was “cool,” injured himself while firing a ghost gun to “test” it out near homes in North Chicago after just purchasing the illegal gun, prosecutors said.
Bobby B. Kimber, 19, of North Chicago, was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony, and four counts of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon, a Class 4 felony.
The North Chicago Police Department responded around 8:30 p.m. on February 27 to an area along Kristan Avenue in North Chicago for an alert from ShotSpotter indicating gunfire.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Savannah Halcomb said officers canvassed the area and observed two male subjects walking away from the alleyway where the ShotSpotter alert came from.
One officer recognized one of the suspects as Kimber, who had previously been arrested for a gun offense.
Kimber had a puffy jacket on that was tight to his body and zipped. A bulge was seen in his waistband, Halcomb said.
Officers stopped the two subjects and asked if they had any weapons on them.
Kimber did not respond and the second subject said he did not have any weapons.
Halcomb said officers began patting the two down and Kimber admitted to having two firearms on him.
The two guns were found in Kimber’s waistband. One was a Taurus 9mm handgun with a magazine inserted and a round in the chamber.
The second gun appeared to be a home-built or assembled Glock-style firearm with no serial number that was partially plastic and appeared to be partially broken, Halcomb said.
Kimber admitted that he had just bought the Glock-style firearm and fired it into the air to “test it out,” Halcomb said.
The firearm blew up in his hand, causing damage to his hand and to the firearm itself, which is why it appeared to be broken.
Halcomb said the firearm discharged a projectile but the casing got stuck inside the gun.
The alleyway is in an almost entirely residential area surrounded by houses and apartments.
Officers saw people on the street and coming out of their residences while responding. They also saw a man working on a car in his garage down the alleyway from the shooting, Halcomb said.
Kimber told officers he carries guns because “it’s cool.” He is under the age of 21, has no Firearm Owner’s Identification card or concealed carry license, Halcomb said.
Kimber has also been previously adjudicated as a delinquent juvenile for a 2025 felony gun offense, as well as another firearm offense and a criminal trespass to vehicle case.
“This defendant poses a real and present threat to the community. He is 19 years old, not old enough to have a FOID or CCL. He chose to obtain and carry on him a ghost gun that was homemade and not professionally manufactured. The firearm was dangerous enough in and of itself that when he fired it, the firearm exploded and injured the defendant’s own hand,” Halcomb said.
“The defendant had another person with him who could have been injured when he discharged this firearm. He chose to discharge this firearm into the air in the alleyway of a residential area, with people inside of residences nearby, people out on the streets, and people in their garages near him. If this firearm had misfired any more than it already had it could have hit another person or residence,” Halcomb said.
“As it is, this bullet fired into the air has to come down at some point, and there is no telling where it could have landed or who it could have struck. This defendant’s background also shows not only that he is a threat to the community, but that there are likely not conditions or combinations of conditions that he would actually follow if given them,” she added.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Kimber pending trial and Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the request following a detention hearing last month.
Kimber remains held in the Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on Tuesday for a plea hearing.