Cops: Guard shot, killed outside Ill. strip club

WASHINGTON PARK -- Authorities say a security guard at a southwestern Illinois strip club died when he accidentally shot himself in the chest.

Investigators say 38-year-old Steven Harris of Cahokia died at a hospital shortly after the shooting early Saturday outside Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in St. Clair County's Washington Park community.

Police say Harris was sitting in a van with a female friend and had the pistol out, and that Harris was putting the gun away at the woman's request when the weapon fired.

Investigators say they found the gun, but the weapon's magazine was in Harris' jacket pocket. That leads police to believe he didn't believe the gun was loaded.

Police say the victim didn't have a Firearm Owners Identification Card, and that drug paraphernalia was found in the van.