Youth Shot in Home, Critically Wounded

A 15-year-old youth was critically wounded by a gunshot Sunday, and police said they have arrested a teenage friend of the victim on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Matthew Aragon, apparently a student at John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma, was found about 1:30 p.m. in an upstairs bedroom of his Tracy Lane home with a gunshot wound to the head, Police Sgt. Jim Enright said.

A 16-year-old youth who called 911 and met investigators at the door was later arrested in connection with the shooting.

The pair apparently had been fighting over an unknown subject, police said.

“We don’t know at this time if the fighting was more of a fooling-around type thing,” Police Sgt. Mark Yokoyama said. “It’s probable that [the shooting] was accidental.”

Inside the home, investigators found a handgun they believe caused the 15-year-old’s head wound. Police said they are still trying to determine the gun’s ownership but they believe it belongs to a family member. Aragon’s parents were not at home at the time of the shooting, Enright said.

Authorities also found numerous incendiary devices and other materials, including an inert grenade, associated with explosives. The county’s bomb unit is helping La Palma police investigate the incident.