12-year-old boy shot dead by brother

NEW YORK - A 12-year-old boy was accidentally killed by his elder brother while they were playing with a gun at their home in Chicago, a media report said.

The gun, bought for protection, had been kept locked up, but the boys found it, Xinhua reported citing the Chicago Sun-Times.

The boy was found by his mother in the basement of their home in Roseland area, and was immediately taken to hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

The victim’s brother, whose age was not immediately known, was in police custody, but no charge was likely to be filed against him, police officer Laura Kubiak said.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services was investigating the circumstances of the accident.