Fatal, Self-Inflicted Shot Believed Accident
A young man who had been drinking with friends shot and killed himself while playing with a gun that he thought was unloaded, police said.
Nicholas William Fox, 20, was having a party at his apartment in the 300 block of East Washington Avenue when he took a .38-caliber handgun from a cloth bag, Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said.
“He started to unload the gun and then placed it against his head and pulled the trigger,” Thomas said. “He pulled it a second time as if it were a joke and the gun went off.”
The bullet hit the right side of Fox’s head, killing him, Thomas said.
“It appears to be an accidental shooting that was self-inflicted,” she said.
After the 2 a.m. shooting, Fox’s friends were apparently frightened and fled the apartment. A manager called police after hearing the gunshot, Thomas said.
The friends, who were not identified, called police later in the morning to explain what happened.
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