Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : MISCELLANY/ NEWSMAKERS AND MILESTONES
A celebration turned to tragedy in Santa Ana when a ricocheting bullet struck 5-year-old Alejandro Magana.
Police said Moises A. Magana, 18, a construction worker, had arrived at a family birthday party with a newly purchased .38-caliber pistol and fired four test shots at a tree in the backyard, where family members were gathered.
The boy, who was standing nearby, was hit in the back by one of the bullets. Crying out, “Daddy,” the boy ran across the crowded yard to where his father was sitting, and died in his arms.
“I heard shooting, but I don’t know who’s shooting,” said Santiago Magana, the father. “I see the kids close to the tree, I was sitting here and he calls me: ‘Daddy.’ ”
Santiago said he had seen Moises with the gun earlier and told him to put it away. “He say, ‘OK,’ he’ll put it somewhere else. I don’t know where he leave the gun.”
Police arrested Moises Magana a short time later on suspicion of murder.
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