Jaiden A. Hines, 8, lived on the same block where the shooting took place, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
A police spokesperson said the boy was accidentally shot by a family member who was handling what was thought to be an unloaded gun when it discharged, striking Hines.
The shooting happened in the Douglas neighborhood's 3600-block of South Rhodes Avenue at about 5:48 p.m., police said. The 8-year-old boy was inside a home with other people when shots were fired.
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The child, shot in the head, was transported to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just before 6:25 p.m., officials said.
Community activist Andrew Holmes spoke with the child's mother and grandmother after they learned he had died.
"They're totally distraught about losing their loved one. They say he's a fun little guy and they're going to miss him, but I wish his mother would have her son to wake up in the morning and just laugh with her son," Holmes said. "And the mother is cooperating, and the other people that was there are cooperating, too. Like I say, this is a very close-knit family, very respectful."
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Nearly 300 juveniles have been shot in Chicago this year, 39 fatally.