http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/bro...843807.mp3file
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HOLLYWOOD
Frantic and in tears, a 14-year-old boy told a 911 operator moments after he shot his friend in the head that he had thought the gun was empty.
Police on Friday released the 911 recordings, in which the boy says he pulled the trigger to check that the gun was unloaded, but that it discharged just as Daniel Torres, 13, stepped in front of him.
Torres died hours later at Memorial Regional Hospital from a gunshot wound to the head.
"I just shot my best friend on accident! Oh my God!" the weeping boy said after the incident at his home Wednesday afternoon.
"It was an accident! I'm sorry!" the boy can be heard saying, as the operator tries to keep him calm.
Police continue to investigate Torres' death as an accident and have not arrested the older boy.
Torres and the 14-year-old, who was new to the neighborhood and lived around the corner from Torres, attended Apollo Middle School together. They stayed home from school Wednesday.
The older boy, whose identity police have not released, repeatedly screamed "oh my God" as he spoke to the 911 operator.
He managed, between screams and sobs, to say that he and Torres had been playing with the 9-mm handgun and had removed its magazine.
The boys were alone, hanging out on the home's back patio under a basketball hoop.
The teen said he pulled back the gun's slide to remove the remaining bullet in the gun's chamber, but didn't see the round fall out, so he pulled the trigger to check whether the gun was empty.
"I said, 'Gimme the gun,' and then I pulled the trigger to see if there was a bullet in there and I shot him," the 14-year-old said. "I shot him dead in the head."
He was still on the telephone with the operator when police and paramedics reached the house in the 1300 block of North 73rd Way.
The boy said that after the shooting, he put the gun in his mother's drawer.
Police are investigating how and where in the home the 14-year-old's mother stored the gun.
Under Florida law, it's a crime for a gun owner to store a loaded firearm anywhere it may be accessible to a child.
No charges have been filed in the incident.
Link to Story
HOLLYWOOD
Frantic and in tears, a 14-year-old boy told a 911 operator moments after he shot his friend in the head that he had thought the gun was empty.
Police on Friday released the 911 recordings, in which the boy says he pulled the trigger to check that the gun was unloaded, but that it discharged just as Daniel Torres, 13, stepped in front of him.
Torres died hours later at Memorial Regional Hospital from a gunshot wound to the head.
"I just shot my best friend on accident! Oh my God!" the weeping boy said after the incident at his home Wednesday afternoon.
"It was an accident! I'm sorry!" the boy can be heard saying, as the operator tries to keep him calm.
Police continue to investigate Torres' death as an accident and have not arrested the older boy.
Torres and the 14-year-old, who was new to the neighborhood and lived around the corner from Torres, attended Apollo Middle School together. They stayed home from school Wednesday.
The older boy, whose identity police have not released, repeatedly screamed "oh my God" as he spoke to the 911 operator.
He managed, between screams and sobs, to say that he and Torres had been playing with the 9-mm handgun and had removed its magazine.
The boys were alone, hanging out on the home's back patio under a basketball hoop.
The teen said he pulled back the gun's slide to remove the remaining bullet in the gun's chamber, but didn't see the round fall out, so he pulled the trigger to check whether the gun was empty.
"I said, 'Gimme the gun,' and then I pulled the trigger to see if there was a bullet in there and I shot him," the 14-year-old said. "I shot him dead in the head."
He was still on the telephone with the operator when police and paramedics reached the house in the 1300 block of North 73rd Way.
The boy said that after the shooting, he put the gun in his mother's drawer.
Police are investigating how and where in the home the 14-year-old's mother stored the gun.
Under Florida law, it's a crime for a gun owner to store a loaded firearm anywhere it may be accessible to a child.
No charges have been filed in the incident.
