A teenager who was shot in the head, presumed dead and covered by a sheet, was still alive and moving, CNN reported.
Erin Carey, 17, was one of six people who had been hit by bullets fired from two cars circling a party in the University Village neighborhood early Monday morning, The Chicago Tribune noted, but the Chicago teen died a day later.
Paramedics at the scene thought that Carey's head wound was fatal and assumed he was dead, so they covered his body with a sheet and went about tending to other victims.
However, onlookers reportedly noticed the teen's arm and leg twitching and alerted paramedics, who performed chest compressions on Carey before lifting him into an ambulance and rushing him to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 1:19 a.m. Tuesday.
"I do understand that paramedics looked at him, believed him to be deceased, covered him with that sheet and moved on to another individual who was nearby who was also shot," said Chicago Police First Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio, according to WLS.
"They saw motion, movement underneath the sheet. Officers who were present notified paramedics, this man is still alive," he added.
Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago said he does not know how the teen was mistaken for dead but said the matter was being investigated.
According to CNN, detectives were also investigating whether Carey was involved in the escalation of the shooting incident, which left a 22-year-old woman dead and four others injured, as a Mac-10 machine pistol was found in the street near his body.
The weekend goes down as one of the most violent of the year in Chicago, with 56 people being shot and nine killed, CNN noted.
Chicago has regularly been singled out by President Donald Trump for its violent crime problem however, earlier this month Chicago announced a drop in crime for the 15th consecutive month.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.