The Region : Son of 2 Officers Fatally Shot in Accident

The 11-year-old son of two Southern California law enforcement officers was killed by an apparently accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Downey police reported. Thomas Christopher Scheidecker Jr. was found dead in a bedroom of his mother’s home. He apparently was alone in the residence at the time of the shooting. The boy is the son of Lt. Thomas Scheidecker of the Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Gertrude Scheidecker. His parents are divorced. The gun used was a .38-caliber revolver that was stored unloaded in the bedroom, a statement issued by Downey police said, adding “investigation . . . indicates the shooting was accidental.” The child reportedly had been reprimanded in the past for playing with the gun.