Deer Hunter in Critical Condition After Accidental Shooting by Friend

A 32-year-old Compton man was critically wounded Sunday morning when he was accidently shot in the face by a companion during a deer hunting trip to the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura County, authorities said.

Efrain Garcia was listed in critical condition late Sunday at Westlake Community Hospital.

Garcia was hunting with six companions on a private ranch in the Calabasas Hills, north of the Ventura Freeway and just west of the Los Angeles County border, when a companion mistook his movement through the brush for a deer and fired a single rifle shot, said Sgt. Paul Worthy, an investigator with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Garcia’s friends were cited for misdemeanor violations of the state Fish and Game Code for hunting on private property and without permits or license tabs, Worthy said.

Worthy said the 9:30 a.m. incident was being investigated as an accident and the person who fired the shot was not arrested.

Garcia’s companions drove him to a Los Angeles County Fire Department station in Calabasas, where he was treated by paramedics and then taken to the hospital, Worthy said.