12-year-old New Jersey boy shot in face by 11-year-old, officials say

A 11-year-old boy shot a 12-year-old boy in the face early Friday morning in New Jersey, authorities said.

The incident occurred about 8 a.m. in an apartment complex in Camden, N.J., and involved a handgun, officials said. Police found the 12-year-old bleeding profusely after being shot in the area around his nose, local media reported.

The boy is expected to recover without brain damage, said Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor’s office.

The shooting appears to be accidental, though an investigation is still underway, Laughlin said. No charges were immediately filed in connection with the incident.

Investigators were looking into how the 11-year-old got hold of the handgun. Under New Jersey law, a gun owner can face criminal charges for allowing a minor to get hold of a loaded firearm.

“We have the 11-year-old and the 11-year-old’s parents with us. They are fully cooperative. We’re trying to get to the bottom of what happened,” Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson told WBVI-TV in Philadelphia.

The victim’s 19-year-old brother was the only other person home at the time, Laughlin said.

He said the 11-year-old and the 12-year-old were not related.

Last month, a 4-year-old boy in Toms River, N.J., picked up his father’s rifle and shot his 6-year-old friend in the head, killing him.

[For the record, 3:26 p.m. May 10: An earlier version of this post said a 6-year-old boy in Toms River, N.J., was shot and seriously injured in April. The post also linked to the first-day story of that shooting. The boy, however, died two days later. The link has been updated to refer to that later story.]

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devin.kelly@latimes.com

Twitter: @devkelly17