CHICAGO — The man found shot outside the Damen Blue Line station in Wicker Park on Monday evening has been slapped with a misdemeanor gun possession charge. Chicago police said an initial investigation determined that Reynaldo Hernandez, 24, may have shot himself.
Officers responding to calls of a person shot found Hernandez sitting outside the CTA station with a gunshot wound to his left palm, a CPD arrest report said.
He was “disoriented with bloodshot eyes and an odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath,” arresting officers wrote in the report.
A witness who called 911 said Hernandez had been shouting that he was a concealed carry license holder, the report said, so officers asked Hernandez if he had a gun.
He pointed to his sweater pocket, where cops found a Glock handgun, according to the report. Officers said he refused to say if he knew who shot him.
While being treated by paramedics, Hernandez “made a spontaneous utterance that he had been drinking and had snorted cocaine,” an officer wrote in the report. A police body camera allegedly recorded the statement.
Hernandez, who reportedly told police that he had been drinking after working at a bar in the Viagra Triangle, was treated and released from Stroger Hospital. The police report said he had a .27 blood alcohol concentration and noted that officers recovered a shell casing from his hospital bed.
According to CPD, Hernandez has a license to own firearms in Illinois, but officers could not find a concealed carry license in his name.
He was released from the police station after being charged with misdemeanor unlawful use of a weapon. Prosecutors rejected felony charges.
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