12-Year-Old Suspect in LA School Shooting Thought Gun Was a Toy

12-Year-Old Suspect in LA School Shooting Thought Gun Was a Toy
(Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)
Jack Phillips
2/2/2018
Updated:
2/2/2018

The suspect in a Los Angeles school shooting allegedly thought the gun was a toy, according to reports on Friday, Feb. 2.

Benjamin Urbina, who was in the classroom, told ABC7 that the young female suspect thought it was a toy.

“They thought it was a toy gun, but then it shot,” Urbina said. The suspect, he added, “didn’t mean to shoot” another 15-year-old girl in the wrist.

A 15-year-old boy was also shot in the head, and doctors said that it doesn’t appear to be life-threatening.

“I didn’t mean to. I had the gun in my backpack and I didn’t know it was loaded and my backpack fell and the gun went off,” Jordan Valenzuela, 12, said of what the crying girl told him, according to The Associated Press.

He said, “She doesn’t do bad things, she just stays quiet.” The girl asked him to hide the weapon after the shooting.

“She said, ‘If I give you the gun will you hide it for me?’” he said. “I said ‘No.’ Then I moved away from her because I was a little bit scared.”

The 12-year-old girl who was arrested in the shooting at Sal Castro Middle School was taken to juvenile hall, NBC Los Angeles reported. She was charged with negligent discharge of a firearm, police said.

“This continues to be an active investigation,” the Los Angeles Police Department said. “However, at this time, the information suggest that this was an isolated incident, involving the negligent discharge of a firearm, where innocent children and a staff member were unfortunately injured.”

From NTD.tv
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Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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