MOORPARK : Boy Shot in Arm by Friend With Gun

Law enforcement officials are urging parents who own guns to keep them away from children after a 16-year-old in Moorpark Tuesday became the second youth in less than a week to be shot by a friend.

The Moorpark teen-age, whose name was not released by authorities, was shot in the arm after he and Hector Bautista Galaviz, 19, had been handling a small caliber handgun, a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy said. The boy was not seriously hurt.

Galaviz was arrested, but was released when it was determined the shooting was accidental, authorities said. The incident follows a fatal shooting last week in which a Thousand Oaks teen-ager said he took his father’s handgun and accidentally shot his girlfriend in the eye. Jacqueline Ann Reay , 16, died shortly after the shooting.

“I can only assume that these guns are coming from parents that may have them in the house,” said Sgt. Bruce Hansen. “Parents really need to make certain that if they have guns in the house, they are kept in a safe place.”

Hansen suggested that parents who own guns lock them in a safe or purchase a trigger lock that works with a key.

In the Moorpark shooting Tuesday morning, police said Galaviz and the 16-year-old had been drinking when the incident occurred. The victim’s mother had to be hospitalized due to stress brought about by the situation, authorities said.