Security guard fined in accidental shooting

A Vernon Hills security guard whose gun discharged a bullet that struck a neighbor girl was fined $200 in a negotiated plea.

Raymond Cruzado plead guilty Monday to unlawful discharge of a projectile, a local charge. He also received six months supervision in what authorities considered an accident.

The agreement was accepted by the family of Marissa Moss and approved by Associate Judge Daniel B. Shanes. A second charge of reckless conduct was dismissed as part of the plea. A civil case is pending.

Marissa, then a fourth-grader at Hawthorn Elementary North, was walking home with her mother on the evening of April 24.

Cruzado was unloading his weapon in his townhouse nearby when it discharged. The bullet went through a window, struck Marissa in the left side and came out her back.

It struck her kidney and spleen and perforated her diaphragm. She was hospitalized for 10 days.

The Lake County state's attorney declined to press criminal charges.

Shanes refused to release the weapon, a .40 caliber Sig Sauer P226 handgun. It was being held in evidence by Vernon Hills police, and a protective order has been issued in connection with the civil case.

The ruling means the gun eventually will be destroyed. As a licensed security guard, Cruzado is free to purchase another weapon for his line of work.