Deputy Wounds Ninja Warrior--Who Turns Out to Be Neighborhood Boy

What would you do if a masked intruder rang your doorbell three times, then jumped out of the bushes dressed in the black camouflage of a feudal Japanese warrior and stuck a replica machine pistol at you? This sort of thing might make some people nervous about 10 o’clock at night.

That’s what happened in Fontana on Saturday, authorities said, but the preteen ninja prankster picked the wrong neighbor to pester.

After the doorbell rang for the third time at the home of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, the officer peered out into the dark, was startled by the intruder and fired his service pistol, wounding him in the arm.

“He slammed the door shut and pushed his wife to safety and took cover,” said Deputy Ron Weber, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“Then he heard someone screaming in pain and recognized the voice as his 11-year-old neighbor.”

The boy, who often traded baseball cards with the deputy and sometimes mowed his lawn, was treated at Loma Linda Medical Center and released in good condition, Weber said.

The bogus weapon, a plastic Uzi, had been painted to hide the red stripe that was supposed to mark it as a replica, Weber said.

Neither the deputy nor the boy was identified. Fontana police declined to comment on the case, but Weber said that the boy may be charged with brandishing a replica firearm in a threatening manner.

No action is anticipated against the deputy, a six-year member of the force, he said.