Police line do not cross
File photo: US police tape Reuters

A five-year-old boy who was caught up in a drive-by shooting in Chicago in 2016 has again been the victim of gun fire after accidentally shooting himself in the hand.

Police said that the incident occurred at a home in the city's south side on Tuesday (19 December) with a gun that the father is believed to have obtained illegally.

According to authorities, Kavan Collins found the gun in a bedroom in his house. The father, whose name has not been released, will likely face charges related to the illegal firearm and endangerment of a child.

Police say the gun's serial number had been defaced and it was not registered. ABC7 reported that the father already had a criminal history.

Chicago's CBS affliate reported that the child had been taken to Comer Children's Hospital where he was said to be in a good condition.

In 2016, the boy was shot in the jaw while walking in the street with his family in an incident believed to be gang related in which another woman was also shot while she lay in bed at home after a bullet went through her window.

Neither the child nor the woman were the intended targets of the shooting, authorities said.