A death investigation was underway in Lancaster Friday after a boy died while visiting a friend Thursday afternoon.
Deputies initially responded to a call about a gunshot victim in the 44000 block of Dahlia Street, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The responding deputies found the boy with a gunshot wound and tried to save him until fire department officials arrived. But the boy died from his injuries at the friend’s house, the Sheriff’s Department said.
A firearm was found from the house.
No one was arrested.
Neighbors told NBC Los Angeles that they have seen an older boy – around age 11 – living at home with a woman who they believed to be his mother. The mother and son have lived at the Dahlia Street house for about a year.
Authorities did not say how the boy came in contact with the gun and whether it was an accident or intentional.
The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital said 22 million children live in homes with at least one firearm across the U.S. 75% of those children know where the guns are stored.