Local News in Brief : Boy Killed in Gun Mishap
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A Compton boy accidentally shot and killed his younger brother as they played with a handgun taken from their mother’s room, authorities said Tuesday.
The brothers had left school early Monday and returned to their home while their mother was away at work, Sgt. Steve Roller said.
The older brother, age 12, had taken bullets from the cylinder, but he missed at least one, Roller said.
His 10-year-old brother apparently was playing “like he was a bad guy,” holding the gun while the older one “was going to take it away from him,” Roller said.
The gun went off, wounding the 10-year-old in the chest. The boy was taken to Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center, where he died at 7:33 p.m.
The 12-year-old was not arrested. Police withheld the boys’ names.
It was the second such shooting in as many days. A 2-year-old boy was wounded by his 6-year-old brother in their San Pedro home early Sunday morning.
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