Boy, 16, Kills Fellow Gang Member in Gunplay
A 16-year-old Highland Park boy playing with a handgun early Wednesday shot and killed a fellow member of his street gang, police said.
The victim, Benjamin Acosta, also 16, died at the scene of the shooting in a parking lot behind an apartment complex in the 4400 block of Toland Way.
Police Detective Ron Whitt said the other 16-year-old was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder. His name was withheld because of his age.
The shooting occurred while the suspect, Acosta and other members of the same gang were in the parking lot, “drinking beer and talking,” according to Whitt.
The suspect pulled out a .22-caliber handgun and then began pointing it at his friends. He then pulled the trigger three or four times before the gun finally went off, striking Acosta, Whitt said.
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