Gun a Puzzle in Shooting Death at Mall : Crime: Friends say 12-year-old had been showing off weapon for a long time. But family members say they don’t know where he got it.

A classmate identified by friends as the 12-year-old who shot and killed a girl in the Mall of Orange had been proudly showing a pistol to junior high classmates and friends for several weeks, the boy’s friends said today.

Friends said that the seventh-grader had at Cerro Villa Middle School in Villa Park had a crush on Jacalyn (Jackie) Calabrese, 12, whom he allegedly shot in the forehead Monday evening.

One youngster, 12, who also attends Cerro Villa, said the youth had been showing the pistol to friends for more than a month--although a family member said he did not know where the boy got the weapon.

Monday evening, before the suspect made plans to visit the mall with Calabrese and several of her friends, his friend became frightened after the youth again displayed the weapon and told him it was loaded.

“Last night, before the shooting, he showed me there were bullets in it,” the friend said. “It scared me.”

Another student said the suspect was an “OK” acquaintance. But he tended to act like a “tough guy” all the time. He also said he had heard about the youth’s pistol “a long time ago.”

The youth was taken into custody Monday night after he allegedly shot the girl and fled the mall and sought refuge at a friend’s house.

At Cerro Villa, a flag was flown at half-staff in memory of Jackie. Five psychologists were assigned to the school to help students deal with any trauma they might feel as a result of the shooting, said Roger Duthoy, an assistant superintendent of the Orange Unified School District.

Orange Police Sgt. Art Romo said officers found the gun they believe was used in the shooting after hours of searching. Police recovered a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol near a house in the residential area west of the mall where the boy first ran.

Officers are still investigating the shooting today, Romo said. The youth is being held at Orange County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of murder.

A decision regarding prosecution is not expected until Wednesday after police and prosecutors meet, said Deputy Dist. Atty. John D. Conley, who handles juvenile cases.

The boy reportedly shot the girl once in the forehead, after he displayed the weapon and she said she doubted the pistol was a real gun.

Calabrese’s sister, Angie, 15, said the family was notified by telephone late Monday that her sister had been shot by one of her friends who had accompanied her to the mall.

The sister and the girl’s mother, Gloria, rushed to the mall, but by then it was too late to do anything.

“I pushed my way through the crowd and I remember seeing a big pool of blood,” Angie said.

Before Jackie left for the mall, she was in the “best of moods,” her sister recalled.

“She had just talked on the phone with (the boy). They decided to go to the mall. He picked her up and away they went,” Angie said.

“I do feel sorry for him,” she said. “I don’t know what would have made him do such a thing. They’ve known each other since fourth grade.”

The boy’s uncle, called the shooting a “tragedy.”

“We don’t know of any motive,” he said. “I don’t know why he would have done this. And I don’t know where he got the gun. His father, my brother, didn’t own one. We’re all wondering where he got it.”

Staff Writers James Robbins and Chris Woodyard contributed to this story.