Freak case: US man accidentally shoots himself in sleep while dreaming about burglary, charged

A man in Illinois is facing firearms charges in afreak case after he accidentally shot himself in the leg while in sleep. He reportedly was dreaming about a burglary that led to the episode, NBC News reported.

The incident took place on April 10, when deputies said they responded to a report of a Lake Barrington resident with a gunshot wound. When deputies arrived at the site, they found 62-year-old Mark Dicara with a gunshot wound on his leg, the Lake County Sheriff's Office said in a release.

A tourniquet was immediately applied to Dicara's leg, as there was significant amount of blood loss.

When cops interrogated him, they found that Dicara had a dream about someone breaking into his house. In the dream, he shoots at the burglarwith his .357 Magnum revolver.

But, what unfolded was bizarre. Dicara shot himself instead reportedly and woke up in pain, the release stated. He was later rushed to a local hospital for treatment.

''The round discharged from the firearm went through Dicara's leg and lodged itself into the bedding. Fortunately, the round did not travel through a shared wall with Dicara's neighbours,'' the release said.

The police also confirmed during the interrogation that an attempted burglary did not take place at Dicara's residence, and there was no intruder in his property.

Dicara was arrested on a warrant on Monday (June 12), and was released after signing $150,000 bond, the sheriff's office said. He was additionally charged with possessing a firearm with a revoked Firearm Owners Identification, and reckless discharge of a firearm, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

The state of Illinois mandates gun owners to have a Firearm Owners Identification card to legally keep firearms or ammunition, according to state police. He is expected to appear in court on June 29 next.

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US gun killings compared with other countries

Data from the CDC shows that homicides accounted for 19,384 deaths in 2020 or 43 per centof all deaths. The statistic indicates a 75 per cent rise over the previous ten years and a 34 per cent increase from 2019.The statistics show that in the US, a firearm claimsclose to 53 livesper day. The research also reveals that 79 per centofhomicideswere committed using firearms.

Rise in mass shootings in the US

Data from Washington-basedGun Violence Archiveshows thatthere were more than 600 mass shootings in the United States in 2022 alone, more than twice the 336 mass shootings that were reported four years prior. As defined broadly, a mass shooting is any occurrence in which four or more people—excluding the shooter—are shot or killed.

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