Waukegan police said a man apparently took his own life after accidentally shooting a friend to death Sunday evening.
The incident unfolded at around 7:15 p.m. as four men were driving around Waukegan trying to buy drugs, police said.
As they were driving in the 1900 block of West Greenwood Avenue, Fredi Aquilar Carrasco, 31, who was in the backseat of the vehicle, fired a pistol into the back of the front seat. The bullet struck Leobardo Diaz, 28, who was in the front passenger seat, according to authorities.
After the shooting, Aquilar Carrasco exited the vehicle and walked away, police said. His body was discovered later that night in the yard of a residence about two blocks from the initial shooting. He was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot to the head, police said.
The other two men in the car told police that there had been no arguing or other incident before the shooting, and that Aquilar Carrasco and Diaz, both Waukegan residents, were friendly.
Diaz was brought to an area hospital and was pronounced dead.
“Based on the evidence recovered and statements obtained preliminarily this appears to be a tragic accidental shooting and then a suicide following,” police said in a news release.
