Teen in critical condition after accidental shooting near Gurnee; friend charged

A 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after an accidental shooting Sunday evening in a Gurnee-area home, authorities said.

Lake County sheriff's police said deputies called to the home on the 36700 block of North Grandwood Drive at about 6 p.m. found the boy in the basement with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The deputies rendered aid until paramedics arrived and took the teen to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, officials said.

Authorities said a preliminary investigation showed that the shooting occurred while the boy was in the basement with two friends, both 16-year-old boys. One of the other boys had a firearm - described by sheriff's police as a "ghost gun" semi-automatic pistol - and fired it, mistakenly hitting the victim.

A ghost gun is typically a privately assembled and untraceable firearm, often made with "build-it-yourself" kits.

The teen who fired the gun was taken to the Hulse Juvenile Detention Center in Vernon Hills and is facing juvenile court charges of unlawful use of a weapon, reckless discharge of a firearm and reckless conduct.