Boy Wounded as He, Friend Play With Gun

A 13-year-old Canoga Park boy was critically injured Friday night when a handgun he and a friend were playing with accidentally discharged, Los Angeles police said.

The boy, who was not identified, was taken to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was in critical but stable condition with a bullet wound to the neck.

His friend, also 13, at whose home the incident occurred, was taken to the West Valley police station and questioned, but Sgt. Fred Tuggey said the shooting was considered accidental.

Tuggey said the two boys were playing in a house in the 20000 block of Candlewood Way around 7 p.m. when they found a gun and began playing with it. The gun fired once and the bullet struck the boy who was a guest at the house, Tuggey said.

Tuggey said he did not know whether one boy accidentally pulled the trigger or whether the gun fired by itself. An investigation is continuing, he said.