Chicago

Family of Mortally Wounded Teen Covered by Paramedics With Sheet Before He Was Dead Considers Legal Action

What to Know

  • Erin Carey, 17, was one of six people shot in Chicago's University Village neighborhood Monday morning, authorities said
  • Paramedics, believing him to be dead, mistakenly covered Carey in a sheet on the ground before realizing he was still alive
  • Authorities said he was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead early Tuesday

The father of a teen covered by paramedics with a sheet while he was still alive after being shot says he believes his son would have lived if got him to a hospital sooner.

While a lawsuit hasn’t been filed yet— Erin Carey’s father and his lawyers demanded answers Wednesday.

Eric Carey was emotional at times as he explained the frustration over the incident. His youngest son and five others were shot early Monday morning in the city’s University Village neighborhood after an argument broke out at a party.

When paramedics arrived they put a sheet over Erin Carey’s body and then tended to the other shooting victims. But it wasn’t until at least 40 minutes later—witnesses and first responders noticed Carey was still alive. He died the next morning in the hospital.

Carey’s father says doctors told him it would be hard to save his son due to a lack of oxygen. The 17-year-old had just graduated from Evanston Township High School. He would have started a summer job on Monday. His family is making funeral arrangements and asking the city for an in depth investigation to be done.

"That was too long to leave anybody laying in the middle of the street," Eric Carey said. "They aren’t doctors. Their job was to come and get him whatever, if they had to bandage him and give him medicine and get him to the hospital. That was their job."

In statements made to the Chicago Tribune— Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said “we know it was an extended period of time to get to the victim. The time it took to get the victim off the street and under treatment was not acceptable by the fire department.”

Interviews will be done with paramedics and other first responders as they review this incident.

The family’s attorneys say legal action is possible in the future.

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