Teen, Shot in Head by Friend, Dies : Shooting: Incident took place in Anaheim Hills home of a youth who killed another boy in a similar case in 1986.

A teen-ager died this morning after he was shot in the head by a high school friend, the same youth who shot and killed another boy four years ago in the same room of his Anaheim Hills home.

The boy, who reported both shootings to police, told authorities in both cases that the shootings were accidental.

The Orange County Coroner’s Office this morning sealed from public view records of the earlier shooting, saying Anaheim police had requested closure as they consider reopening the 1986 case, which had been ruled accidental.

“We certainly can’t rule out any possibility at this point,” Anaheim Police Lt. Marc Hedgepeth said. “We will certainly explore other possibilities.”

Police have refused to identify the 17-year-old youth, who, as in 1986, was released to the custody of his parents.

Christian R. Wiedepuhl, 17, died at 12:50 a.m. today at Western Medical Center from a single gunshot wound, a hospital spokeswoman said. An autopsy was scheduled for this afternoon to determine the exact cause of death, the coroner’s office said.

Wiedepuhl was critically wounded at 4:40 p.m. on Thursday by his friend, who had invited him to an upstairs office of his parents’ North Wade Circle home and pulled out his parents’ handgun.

While the two were examining the loaded weapon, the handgun discharged, hitting Wiedepuhl in the head, Anaheim homicide Sgt. Chet Barry said. The friend called police, saying he had accidentally shot Wiedepuhl, Barry said.

Both boys were students at Canyon High School.

In a remarkably similar case four years ago, Jeffrey A. Bush, 13, was in the same room of the teen-ager’s house about the same time in the afternoon when he was hit in the head by a shotgun blast.

Coroner’s spokesman Lyle said that public records in the 1986 shooting were being withheld at the request of the Anaheim Police Department. Normally, public records can be withheld if they are being scrutinized in connection with a criminal case, he said.

Hedgepeth said three investigators assigned to the latest case are treating it as an accidental shooting but are continuing to investigate.