12-Year-Old Arrested in Shooting : Guns: Pacoima boy is in critical condition after what police believe was an accident late Thursday while the youngsters played with a revolver in a Van Nuys home.

A 12-year-old boy who accidentally shot his 14-year-old friend in the head was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Friday, and his friend was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.

The younger boy said he had found the gun in Delano Park about a week ago.

The victim, 14-year-old Victor Tamayo of Pacoima remained in critical condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center late Friday with a single gunshot wound to the head, authorities said. The wound is not believed to be life-threatening.

Detectives believe the shooting occurred while the two were playing with the revolver, but police said they arrested the youngster partly because he had lied about his involvement earlier, Detective John Edwards said.

“We have no reason to believe that this was anything other than an accident, but we are continuing to investigate,” Edwards said.

The shooting occurred Thursday about midnight when Tamayo and his friend were playing at the friend’s home with a loaded .38-caliber Colt revolver, police said.

The friend shot Tamayo from about six feet away while the two were sitting on a couch watching a video movie, Edwards said.

The friend’s father was sleeping in the next room, but did not awake, Edwards said. “The father has two jobs, and was just really exhausted,” he said.

After the shooting, the friend called 911, then awoke his father, police said.

Originally, the friend told police that Tamayo had accidentally shot himself. But after being questioned, the youngster admitted he had accidentally pulled the trigger, police said.

The boys had looked into the cylinder of the gun and mistakenly believed all the chambers were empty, Edwards said. Actually, four of the chambers contained bullets.

The 12-year-old was released to the custody of his parents and is scheduled to be arraigned next week.