Man fires gun after dreaming about intruder in his home, but ends up shooting his own leg

A man in Illinois got the scare of his life when he accidentally shot himself in the leg while he was asleep as he dreamt that a burglar had broken into his house.

In a news release shared by the Lake County government, the man, identified as Mark Dicara, had a nightmare that someone was intruding in his home.

Believing that what was happening was all real, he retrieved his .357 Magnum Revolver and fired at the person that he believed was the "intruder."

Instead of keeping himself safe, however, he ended up causing harm to himself when he shot his own leg, which made him wake up from his dream.

Dicara was immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot wound. The bullet went through his leg and lodged itself into his bed, causing him to lose a "significant amount of blood."

Authorities confirmed that the burglary incident was indeed only happening in Dicara's dream and no one was actually breaking into his home.

In an email interview with CNN, Lake County Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said: "We’ve investigated accidental or negligent shootings, however, this is the first that we can recall where someone fired a gun because of a dream they were having."

The 62-year-old man has been charged with possessing a firearm without a valid Firearm Owners Identification card and reckless discharge of a firearm. He was released on bail after posting a $150,000 (P8.3 million) bond and is due in court later this month, according to the release.