Fireworks Death: Man, 34, Killed On 4th Of July

CHICAGO, IL — A man who was handling a firework was killed July 4 on Chicago's Northwest side, police said.

Officials said the man "sustained trauma to the body" in the incident around 10 p.m. in the 3000 block of North Kostner Avenue.

The 34-year-old, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office as Earl Lory, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fireworks-related deaths and injuries are not unheard of in Illinois. Last July, the Illinois State Fire Marshal's office reported 108 injuries involving fireworks, including a suburban man who was critically injured when he looked into the tube of a firework after he believed it hadn't gone off.

In 2021, a man in his 30s was killed while lighting fireworks near Rockford, and a suburban man in his 20s lost an eye and suffered "severe traumatic injuries to his face" while shooting off fireworks. In 2017, a Chicago man was also killed while lighting fireworks as he put on a 4th of July show for children.