Gun In Donated Clothes Kills Chicago Woman

A loaded gun in donated clothes discharged and tragically killed a Chicago woman early today.

Carmen Dominguez, 54, was sorting through clothes with a male co-worker at the South Side thrift store where she worked this morning when a.22 caliber pistol accidentally went off.

Her co-worker reportedly told police that as they were going through the donations in the back room of the store “he discovered a sock with something in it and emptied the sock into his hand, according to a police statement. A.22-caliber handgun slipped out of the sock and accidentally discharged in his hand, striking Dominguez in the chest…”

Paramedics transported the woman, a married mother of two, to a local hospital where she was tragically pronounced dead about a half hour later. Dominguez was an employee of the thrift store for 25 years and had just been promoted. Her niece said that “She was definitely a family-oriented person. She was always there for us. She was such a good person.”

Based on a preliminary assessment, Chicago police have deemed the shooting “a tragic, accidental incident.” The US Occupational Safety and Healthy Administration (OSHA) is investigating, however.

In a separate, wholly unrelated incident, an accidental shooting occurred at Arlington National Cemetery last Memorial Day. A privately owned handgun, which was apparently under the seat of a vehicle, and reportedly belonged to an active duty solider, discharged by accident, and wounded a passenger in the car. The passenger fortunately suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the incident that occurred a few hours before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ceremony.

[Image via Shutterstock]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuuOj5tE0Ys