Boy, 14, Accidentally Killed by Best Friend
A 14-year-old Long Beach boy was shot and killed by his best friend Tuesday as the two played with a shotgun authorities say was owned by the gang to which they both belonged.
The boy was shot in the stomach about 11 a.m. in the 1100 block of Loma Vista Drive as he and his 16-year-old friend joked and took turns pointing the gun at each other and two other teen-agers watched, Detective William Collette said. The names of the youths were withheld.
“It was a simple case of two kids playing with a gun and not knowing it was loaded,” Collette said. The gun was owned by the gang and kept under a nearby apartment house, he said. The boy and his friend had brought the gun from its hiding place to show the others.
The boy who allegedly fired the shot was booked on suspicion of murder and taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, Collette said.
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