Boy, 12, Killed by Friend Who Found Hidden Shotgun

A 12-year-old boy accidentally shot another 12-year-old to death Friday after a group of friends found a shotgun under a bed in a house near Arcadia, deputies said.

The shooting occurred about 1 p.m. in the 11200 block of Arrowood Street, where three boys and a 14-year-old girl were alone in her two-story house, deputies said. Their school was on a special holiday.

“One youngster picked up a gun, and handed it to another one,” said Deputy Frank Gonzalez of the sheriff’s homicide bureau. “It accidentally went off. We don’t think they knew it was loaded. One round was discharged.”

The youth died later at Arcadia Methodist Hospital. The victim was identified as Paul Lavorico, a student at Wright Elementary School. The name of the boy who shot him, a student at Rio Hondo Elementary School, was not released because of his age. Both schools are in the El Monte City School District.

Neighbors said the boys had been trying to organize a pickup football game to play on a cul-de-sac when they stopped off at the house to visit. The shotgun, one of several guns in the house, was under a bed in the upstairs master bedroom, investigators said.

Only last month, Temple City sheriff’s deputies told an assembly at Rio Hondo School that guns kill, recalled Bob Verburg, an eighth-grade English teacher there.

Administrators who invited the deputies had been “concerned about this whole issue” of guns and school-age children, Verburg said.

“I’m heartbroken,” he said. “A lot of kids are going to learn a very hard lesson now, unfortunately. It’s sad that it had to happen this way.”

Standing behind yellow crime scene tape, the victim’s friends, 12- and 13-year-olds, said they were stunned. Tears flowed. Some remembered the assembly and the lesson about guns.

“They told us never to play with guns, never bother to even touch them, that if we ever see them, leave them alone,” said Kathy Dong, 13, who knew both boys.

Although the shooting appeared to be strictly accidental, Gonzalez said, an investigation is underway to determine whether the guns were properly secured. After all the facts are in, Gonzalez said, the matter will be handed to the district attorney “to make a determination as far as any culpability goes.”

The house, in a well-maintained tract of homes in an unincorporated area bordering Arcadia, is known as a place where children liked to hang out, neighbors said.

A woman who lives across the street said the boys had just been by her house, looking for her son.

“They were planning to all get together and play football in the cul-de-sac,” she said.

Soon afterward, several of the children came running back, wailing and screaming that one of the boys had just shot his friend, said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. They called 911.

Plans already are underway for the school’s counselor to meet with children Monday to help them through their grief, Verburg said.

Jacob Otani, 13, said Lavorico was a friend, playful and outgoing.

“He liked to play football and read books, the scary kind, the kind that raised goose bumps,” Otani said.

His mother, Veronica Yutani, stood with Jacob and Kathy Dong, trying to console them.

“They said don’t play with guns,” said the teenage girl. When Kathy broke down, Veronica Yutani hugged her.

“This is your first loss, isn’t it?” Yutani asked. “I know how it feels.”