A woman working at a thrift store in the South Side Washington Heights neighborhood died Friday morning after a gun hidden in dropped-off clothing accidentally went off and shot her in the chest.
The 54-year-old woman was working at the store in the 9400 block of South Ashland Avenue about 9:45 a.m., according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
The victim and a co-worker were sorting through clothing in a back room of the store when the co-worker shook a sock, a gun fell out onto the floor and discharged, striking the woman in the chest, sources said.
She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where she was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.
Her name was not released Friday afternoon pending notification of family.
Area South detectives are investigating.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/thrift-store-employee-killed-donated-clothing-249027961.html#ixzz2vJH8EffF
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Gregory Smith
I think it’s likely that the gun belonged to an old man that died. All of his clothes were probably bundled into bags for donation, without anyone checking them for valuables first.