Lake County authorities hope tattoo will help identify shooting victim
Lake County Sheriff's police are distributing a photograph of a tattoo in hopes it will help identify a man who tried to commit suicide near Palatine.
Police said Friday the tattoo of a red and green dragon-like creature is located on the victim's right forearm.
The unidentified man, believed to be in his late 40s, is on life support at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
Police were called to the unincorporated area at about 4:40 a.m. Thursday when a motorist found a man unconscious and bleeding from a head wound on a bridge over a retention pond on Lake-Cook Road near Hicks Road.
A search for the gun started about 9 a.m. Fire department divers using boats and sonar recovered a single-shot derringer about noon and are using it to help identify the victim.
He is described as a white man, about 6-foot, weighing 200 pounds. He was wearing a Levi jean jacket and jean pants with Puma brand tennis shoes.
Anyone with information that would be helpful is asked to call the Lake County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division at (847) 377-4250.