Boy, 12, Reported Shot to Death by Friend Over Ball
A 12-year-old Quartz Hill boy was shot to death by a playmate in a dispute over a baseball, officials said today.
The victim, Christopher Perea, was struck several times by bullets fired from a .22-caliber rifle, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials.
The incident occurred Thursday afternoon in the home of the boy, also 12, alleged to have fired the shots.
Officials said Perea had picked up a baseball that belonged to his friend and began to leave the house with it. The friend allegedly opened fire from an upstairs balcony that overlooks the entrance way. He continued to fire even after Perea had been felled, investigators said.
The boys lived in the same neighborhood of Quartz Hill, a rural community outside Lancaster. Perea’s assailant, who was not identified, was booked into the Sylmar Juvenile Hall for investigation of murder.
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