Deputies shoot at dog, fatally hit teen trying to restrain it

LOS ANGELES — A teen was fatally shot by deputies after a bullet fired at a charging dog ricocheted into the boy’s chest Thursday morning.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call about loud music at an apartment around 3:40 a.m. when a 60 to 65 pound blue-nose pit bull bit a deputy on the left knee, according to investigators. A teen attempted to restrain the animal and took it to the back of the apartment complex, but it got loose and started charging toward deputies when they opened fire.

"He may have been struck by one of the skip rounds in what we're calling an extremely, extremely unfortunate incident," Capt. Christopher Bergner told the Los Angeles Times. "Our initial impression was (the deputies) didn't even see the individual coming around from the side of the building."

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Five deputies were at the scene. Two fired their pistols, unloading six to eight bullets when the dog was about 5 to 7 feet away, according to investigators. The unnamed 3-year-old pit bull was struck by a bullet but survived. However, he will be euthanized.

The dog ran to a carport around the back of the apartment complex. When deputies moved closer they noticed the teen on the ground, wounded after being struck in the chest from a round that skipped off the ground. He was about 40 feet away and out of sight of deputies, investigators said.

The family identified the teen as Armando Garcia-Muro, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Deputies, then paramedics treated him, before Garcia-Muno was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital, where he died.

Garcia-Muno was the oldest of four siblings. He was about to enter his senior year of high school.

“He would give his life for anybody,” his mother Roberta Alcantar told the Times. “He was a very loving person.

The L.A. County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau and the Internal Affairs Bureau are investigating.

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