Inglewood Man Kills Son, 4, in an Apparent Accident

An Inglewood man killed his 4-year-old son, apparently accidentally, while showing off his revolver to the boy and another son, authorities said Saturday.

Jesus Zubia, 24, told Inglewood police he shot his son at their home about 7 p.m. Friday after he pulled the trigger repeatedly, thinking the weapon was unloaded. But the gun fired once, striking the 4-year-old in the head, Sgt. Ed Eccles said.

The boy, whose name was not released, died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in South Los Angeles.

Zubia was arrested on suspicion of murder and was being held Saturday pending a police investigation, Eccles said. But the statements of the father and his other son, a 7-year-old, suggest the shooting was an accident, he said.

“It appears he was emptying the gun and then dry-firing it for his kids,” Eccles said. “Obviously, one of the bullets stayed in.”

In another fatal shooting in Inglewood over the weekend, apparently the result of a gang feud, a 17-year-old was gunned down while riding in the back of a pickup truck.

Police said the victim, an Inglewood boy whose name was being withheld, was shot about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, shortly after he and several friends left a dance at Inglewood High School.

The shot was fired from a sedan that approached the truck from behind on a street near the school, Eccles said, and someone in the sedan yelled, “Who are you with?”

Paramedics pronounced the 17-year-old dead at his Inglewood home, where his companions had taken him after the shooting, police said. School officials had warned police last week that they expected a clash between rival gangs Friday night during a football game between Inglewood and Santa Monica high schools. The dance followed the game.