Lawsuit: Monee father's son shot child in face with rifle

A Monee man’s 7-year-old child allegedly took a rifle from his bedroom closet and shot another child in the face during a birthday party, according to a lawsuit.

Brian D. Assink, 38, of the 24300 block of South Pine Ridge Drive was arrested by the Will County Sheriff’s Office and charged with endangering the life or health of a child and unlawful storage of a firearm within premises in connection with the incident.

Court records indicated that an arrest warrant was served on Assink on Oct. 12. The warrant carried a bond of $10,000.

On Thursday, the alleged victim’s mother, Raeann Cox, filed a lawsuit against Brian Assink and Tara Assink, the mother of his child.

Cox’s child had been invited to a birthday party on July 7 for the two children of Brian Assink, identified as H.A. and L.A. in the lawsuit.

Cox’s attorney James Pullos failed to return calls Friday.

Cox’s lawsuit claimed that during the party, H.A. fired a bullet from a .22-caliber Marlin Model 60 rifle at her child. The bullet allegedly struck her child in the face, mouth, neck and spine area.

H.A. grabbed the rifle after becoming upset when L.A. took a toy away from H.A., who then retrieved the rifle from a walk-in bedroom closet, according to the lawsuit.

When H.A. was allegedly carrying the rifle, Cox’s child asked H.A. if it was real. H.A. allegedly confirmed it was real and then fired off the rifle at her child.

Cox is accusing Brian and Tara Assink of negligence, and seeks more than $50,000 in damages from each of them. The lawsuit claims Brian Assink owned the rifle and kept it in his walk-in bedroom closet loaded and without any safety locks or other protection. The lawsuit also claimed Brain Assink instructed H.A. on use of the rifle and let them know how to access it.

The criminal complaint against Assink alleged that he kept the rifle in an unsecured location that was accessible to others without ensuring the firearm did not contain live ammunition.

The complaint also alleged that H.A. was “likely to gain access to the firearm” and caused “great bodily harm” to Cox’s child.