17-Year-Old Killed in Game of Russian Roulette

A 17-year-old Lancaster youth died Wednesday after shooting himself in the head during a game of Russian roulette, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

The boy, whose name was withheld pending notification of relatives, was pronounced dead at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center about 12:45 p.m.

The shooting occurred about noon in the apartment where the youth lived in the 100 block of East Green Acre Lane, a small private street near Lancaster Boulevard and Division Street, Deputy Rich Erickson said.

Neighbors heard a single shot and saw two young men run out of the victim’s apartment moments later and ask a neighbor to call for help because a boy had shot himself during a game, Erickson said.

The two other youths told deputies that all three had been playing Russian roulette before the shooting, Sgt. Bobby Denham said.

In the usual form of Russian roulette, a cartridge is placed in one of the five or six chambers of a revolver.

Players spin the cylinder so that the cartridge’s location is unknown, put the gun to their heads and pull the trigger.

No arrests were made, but the two witnesses were held for questioning while homicide detectives continued their investigation, Denham said.

“It wasn’t a murder from what we understand,” Denham said. “Three kids were playing Russian roulette and one of the kids was fatally shot.”

Deputies said the Sierra Pines apartment complex where the shooting occurred is one of the Antelope Valley’s highest crime areas, with a history of gang activity.

But authorities said the preliminary details led them to believe that the shooting was not gang-related.