CHICAGO — A Chicago man who was accused of accidentally shooting two people, including an 11-year-old, when he fumbled a gun at a Christmas party has received a probation sentence, according to court records.
Tyquan Scott, 25, brought the gun to his girlfriend’s Jefferson Park home for a 2021 Christmas Eve celebration, prosecutors said two days later during his initial bail hearing.
Around 11:30 p.m., the gun began to slip out of Scott’s waistband, and he grabbed it to keep it from falling, officials said. But the weapon discharged, striking an 11-year-old boy in the leg, police said. As Scott fumbled with the gun, officials said, it discharged again, striking a 25-year-old man in the leg.
The family took the gun away and told him to leave the party. Police recovered the weapon from a table inside the home. They found Scott sitting at a bus stop about three blocks away.
Prosecutors said he told police he “grabbed it by the trigger as it began to fall.” Officials acknowledged that the situation was accidental, and prosecutors never accused Scott of intentionally firing the weapon.
“We won’t quite categorize it as a Christmas miracle, but it is fortunate to be sure,” Judge David Navarro said during Scott’s bond hearing.
Scott resolved the case this month by pleading guilty to one count of reckless discharge of a firearm before Judge William Hooks, court records show. Hooks sentenced him to two years probation.