Rifle-Toting Boy, 14, Wounded by Police

A 14-year-old, rifle-toting boy was shot and wounded by police detectives investigating a murder in South-Central Los Angeles, authorities said Saturday.

Los Angeles Police Lt. Charles Higbie said officers saw the boy emerge from a house they were watching in the 500 block of West 55th Street. Detective Jerry Moya and two other officers stopped the boy, who had hidden the rifle in his trousers, and told him to raise his hands.

Instead of complying, Higbie said, the boy began to draw the rifle from his trousers. Moya fired a single bullet, striking the boy in the lower right back. He was taken to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, where he was reported in stable condition after surgery.