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Calumet City 3rd Ward Ald. DeAndre Tillman, from left, city spokesman Sean Howard and Calumet City police Chief Kevin Kolosh listen to Ald. Ramonde D. Williams express his condolences Friday to the family of a 5-year-old boy who was fatally shot Thursday.
Alexandra Kukulka / Daily Southtown
Calumet City 3rd Ward Ald. DeAndre Tillman, from left, city spokesman Sean Howard and Calumet City police Chief Kevin Kolosh listen to Ald. Ramonde D. Williams express his condolences Friday to the family of a 5-year-old boy who was fatally shot Thursday.
Chicago Tribune
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Calumet City officials called Friday for an increased awareness for gun safety after a preliminary investigation into the fatal shooting of a 5-year-old boy indicated someone found a gun and brought it to the home.

At 9 p.m., police responded to a call of a child shot in the 200 block of Paxton Avenue and found a 5-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the head and provided aid, said Calumet City police Chief Kevin Kolosh.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the boy as Kentrell Pouncey, and said he was pronounced dead at 10:14 p.m. Thursday at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn.

At a news conference Friday, Kolosh said the preliminary investigation indicates a family member found the gun in another location and brought it to the home. Pouncey was home with three teenage family members, all under the age of 15, and his mother at the time of the shooting, Kolosh said, and his mother was not aware a gun was in the house.

Police are still investigating who fired the gun, Kolosh said, but the gun was fired one time. The family is cooperating with the investigation, he said.

“This is a tragic incident, one that nobody wants to speak about, nobody wants to hear about. But, it’s also a strong reminder of the importance of gun safety,” Kolosh said. “Parents need to have talks with their children, whether or not they have guns in the house, and the conversation should specifically state ‘Do not touch guns and if you see a gun notify a responsible adult.'”

City spokesman Sean Howard said Mayor Thaddeus Jones, who is recovering from injuries after a car accident, visited the family late Thursday night.

“Regardless of the circumstances concerning this tragic death, our hearts are broken as this family must now deal with the loss of this young child,” Jones said in the news release. “I would like to express my deepest condolences to the family. Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.”

Ald. Ramonde D. Williams expressed his condolences to the family, who he said should’ve been preparing for Easter weekend instead of dealing with a death.

“There’s really no words that we can say all we can do is lift this family up in prayer,” he said.

Ald. DeAndre Tillman said his 6-year-old nephew goes to the same school district and he can’t begin to imagine the pain the family is feeling.

“I couldn’t sleep last night just thinking about what the family possibly is going through and what is going on in their minds,” Tillman said. “I just want the family to know that the city is here behind them grieving.”