- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Southwest Side Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th) accidentally shot himself in his wrist Monday.
About noon Monday, a 54-year-old man was cleaning a gun in the 8200 block of South Christiana Avenue when it went off, hitting his left wrist, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in fair condition, with no other injuries reported.
Curtis said in a statement Wednesday he was visiting with a neighbor and friend who’d asked him to look at a small gun that was malfunctioning at the shooting range. He took the gun apart to inspect it and found that it needed cleaning and other repairs, Curtis said. As he was reassembling the gun, it malfunctioned and went off, hitting Curtis’ hand, he said.
Curtis underwent minor surgery on his hand and is doing well, he said in the statement.
Curtis is a concealed-carry license instructor.
Curtis is a former ward superintendent for the Department of Streets and Sanitation and former Democratic committeeman who was first elected alderman of the Far Southwest Side ward in 2015. He grew up on the West Side.
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