Minor Boy Accidentally Shoots Himself With Gun Brought During Sleepover By Friend

A 12-year-old boy in California has died from a gunshot after he accidently fired on himself during a Fourth of July sleepover. Maximilian “Max” Mendoza had invited a friend for a sleepover at his home in Chula Vista, Los Angeles when the incident occurred around 9am.

According to police, officers responded to a 911 call about a shooting in the residence. When they arrived, Mendoza was found with one gunshot wound outside the Woodland Hills condo complex at 530 Telegraph Canyon Road. The family had brought him outside when they reported the shooting.

On that morning of July 3, the family overheard a gunshot and found Mendoza bleeding. His mother, Aida Mendoza said she held her “baby boy” in her arms as they waited for paramedics to arrive outside their home.

Officers and paramedics who responded to the call attempted life saving measures and rushed the boy to a nearby hospital. Despite their efforts, the young boy did not survive his injuries and was later pronounced dead.

NBC San Diego reported that Mendoza invited a friend to stay the night at the family's home over the long weekend. Chula Vista Police Department said the friend, a 15-year-old boy, brought the gun to the sleepover and gave Mendoza access to it.

The CVPD said in a press release that investigators are looking into how the 15-year-old managed to get a hold of the firearm and trace its real owner. Lt. Dan Peak from the CVPD said no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon. Investigators questioned Mendoza's friend and later released him to his family. Due to the age of the 15-year-old boy, his name was not released by police. Authorities are still trying to locate potential witnesses and pin down suspects to the case.

Mendoza, who recently graduated from Rogers Elementary School, was remembered as a respectful, kind and charismatic boy. Family members and neighbors said he helped neighbors with groceries and looked after his four sisters.

A neighbor Eliadora Foster, described the victim as she cried. “He was the little man in the house, and he acted like the little man in the house. The whole neighborhood cried because he’s so special.”

In a similar incident, a 4-year-old child died after finding a gun in a car outside a Colorado marijuana dispensary on Tuesday. The child accidentally discharged the firearm and shot himself. Media reports said the child's mother and a younger sibling were in the car at the time of the shooting while the father was in the store in Manitou Springs.

The child died at the scene, and the 25-year-old mother and 26-year-old father were arrested on a charge of criminally negligent child abuse resulting in death. No other information about what led to the shooting has been released.