Boy, 7, Shot To Death At Friend's House In Los Angeles County

LANCASTER, CA — A 7-year-old boy was shot to death at his friend's house in Lancaster Thursday, and today police are working to determine how it happened.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, deputies were sent to the 44000 block of Dahlia Street at 3:46 p.m. Thursday "in regard to a gunshot victim call," the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

They found a boy at the home suffering from a gunshot wound and rendered aid until the arrival of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The child died from his injuries at the location, according to the fire department.

Sheriff's Department officials said no foul play is suspected. Another child and an adult were at the home when the shooting occurred.

Investigators learned the boy did not reside at the location but was visiting a friend. His family was notified, the statement said.

Information on the boy's identity was not immediately released.

"Investigators still need to conduct several interviews," the sheriff's department announced in the written statement. "A firearm was recovered from the scene. No arrests were made."

California has a safe storage law requiring loaded guns to be stored in a locked container or outfitted with a locking device.

According to the state attorney general's office, "You may be guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony if you keep a loaded firearm within any premises that are under your custody or control and a child under 18 years of age obtains and uses it, resulting in injury or death, or carries it to a public place, unless you stored the firearm in a locked container or locked the firearm with a locking device to temporarily keep it from functioning."

Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.

City News Service contributed to this report.