‘Horsing Around’ With Gun, Boy Is Shot to Death

A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed by his friend as they were “horsing around” with a gun they had just used on an outing to a shooting range, authorities said Friday.

Investigators said the shooting Thursday evening on Front Street in Norwalk was an accident, but Bryan Lowenberge, 19, of Cerritos, was held without bail on suspicion of murder at the Norwalk sheriff’s station, Deputy Rafael Estrada said.

He said the district attorney’s office would decide whether to press a lesser charge, such as manslaughter.

The friends had returned to Bob’s Custom Cycle Shop from a public shooting range in Long Beach and were cleaning and playing with Lowenberge’s 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol when it discharged, Sgt. Bill Patterson said. The boy’s name was withheld until his relatives could be notified.