Boy Shot by Police Charged in Felonies

A student shot and wounded by police after he allegedly attempted to burglarize a Huntington Beach home was charged Monday with six felony counts, officials said.

The 17-year-old, who authorities said is a Russian exchange student, made the robbery attempt using a firearm he stole from his host family, authorities said.

The youth could spend as many as 22 years and four months in prison if convicted as an adult. Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Kang said a Juvenile Court judge will decide whether the youth will be tried as an adult.

Under the recently passed Proposition 21, prosecutors can charge minors directly in adult court in cases involving serious crimes, but they opted not to do so in this case, Kang said.

“Since he didn’t fire the weapon, in the interest of justice, we thought it would be better to have a fitness hearing,” she said.

Kang said the youth, whose name was not released because of his age, is suspected of taking a 9-millimeter handgun Friday morning from the Huntington Beach home where he was staying. He then walked to a home in the 200 block of Alabama Street and knocked on the door.

A man holding his 11-month-old baby answered, she said.

“He said, ‘Let me in, or I’ll shoot you,’ ” Kang said. The man immediately closed the door and told his wife to call 911. The man then followed the boy, who was wearing a mask and who threatened him again, saying he would kill him if he called police, Kang said.

When police officers arrived, Kang said, the boy pointed the gun at them and was shot once in the leg. He was treated at UCI Medical Center in Orange and taken into custody.

He was charged with burglary, making terrorist threats, threatening a witness, two counts of pointing a firearm at police officers and stealing a firearm.

If he is tried as a juvenile and convicted, he will be turned over to the California Youth Authority until he turns 18, Kang said.

It was not clear Monday whether the boy would be deported.