Shotgun Blast Hits 14-Year-Old Boy in Chest; Friend Booked

A 14-year-old boy was hospitalized in intensive care Friday, the victim of what police called an accidental shooting by one of his friends in an apartment in Orange.

Sgt. John Higley said a 15-year-old boy was later arrested and booked into Orange County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Detectives said the youth had been trying to scare the victim and apparently did not know the gun was loaded. No names were released.

Four boys were inside the apartment at 1190 N. Shattuck Place about 4 p.m. Thursday when one of them picked up a single-barrel shotgun and began pointing it at the others, Higley said. He said the shotgun was fired a few seconds later by the 15-year-old, who lives in the apartment, and the younger boy was wounded in the chest.

He staggered out of the apartment and collapsed on the sidewalk, where his friends and neighbors administered first aid. He was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana where he was listed in stable and satisfactory condition in the intensive care unit, police said.