Santa Ana Teen Killed While Handling Gun

A Santa Ana teenager died Monday after accidentally shooting himself in the head while he, his sister and a friend played with a gun they thought was unloaded, police said.

The teen, identified by the coroner as 15-year-old Michael Flessa, was rushed to UCI Medical Center in Orange shortly after the noon shooting. He was pronounced dead about 90 minutes later.

Neighbors in the tight-knit Baker Street apartment complex described the victim as a quiet person devoted to his family, notably his teenage sister. “They were good kids,” neighbor Robert Rodriguez said.

Santa Ana Police Sgt. Steve Despenas said the shooting appears to be a tragic accident. The teens believed they had removed all the bullets from the semiautomatic handgun before they started playing with the weapon. But one bullet remained in the chamber.

“The victim, thinking the gun was unloaded, pulled the trigger and shot himself,” Despenas said.

The boy’s sister hysterically called 911 operators. When police and paramedics arrived, they found the boy lying on the kitchen floor, bleeding from a head wound, officials said.

Police recovered a semiautomatic handgun from the apartment, Despenas said. Police are trying to determine the gun’s registered owner, but doubt there will be criminal charges.

“There is no real criminal issue involved [in terms of] negligence,” Lt. Bob Chavez said. “You have a right to have a gun in your house.”

Rodriguez said he had just finished taking a shower before work Monday afternoon when he heard a gunshot.

“I think they were playing Russian roulette or something,” said the 37-year-old courier.

Added neighbor Erick Laurent: “I heard yelling. I heard a bang. The door slams open and his sister yells, ‘[He’s] not breathing!’ ”

Police said the incident underscores the dangers of having a loaded weapon in the house.

“This is a prime example that firearms are dangerous,” Despenas said. “If someone doesn’t know how to use a gun, they shouldn’t be playing with one.”

A study by the Center for Health Statistics found that 440 children died in accidental shootings across the nation.

In one highly publicized case in 1997, a 12-year-old girl was accidentally shot and wounded by a playmate in a Rancho Santa Margarita house. In August 1998, a 9-year-old Dana Point girl was wounded in what authorities called an accidental shooting.