Ricochet kills teen

Deputies fire at pit bull but bullet tragically hits nearby boy

DEPUTIES opened fire at a charging pit bull and one bullet apparently ricocheted off the ground and killed a 17-year-old boy who had been helping to restrain the dog, authorities said yesterday.

The dog, which belonged to the boy’s neighbour, had already bitten one of the deputies and the teen had restrained it behind the apartment complex when it broke loose and charged again, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies shot and wounded the dog when it was about three metres away, then chased it as it tried to run back behind the building, officials said.

Only then did they see that the boy, who had been standing about 12 metres away, had also re-emerged from behind the building and had been hit in the chest by a so-called “skip round” that had ricocheted off the pavement. He died at a hospital about an hour later.

The boy’s mother, Roberta Alcantar, said his name was Armando Garcia-Muro, the eldest of four siblings about to start his senior year of high school. She said he loved dogs and planned to go into construction.

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

Sheriff’s Captain Christopher Bergner called it an “extremely, extremely unfortunate incident,” adding that it didn’t appear the deputies saw the teen in the dark before they fired.

The deputy that had been bitten was also hit by a frag- ment that had struck the ground but had only minor injuries, officials said. He was not among those that fired.

Two of the five deputies at the scene shot at the dog, officials said. The pit bull was captured and animal control planned to euthanase it.

The deputies had first been called to the Palmdale complex about 3.45am with complaints of a loud party. AN AMERICA-wide manhunt is underway for a man, considered armed and dangerous, who is wanted over the death of three woman.

The badly decomposing bodies of the three women were found at the farmhouse owned by 60-year-old Gerald Michael “Mike” Bullinger in Cadwell, Idaho.

Bullinger has been charged with failing to report the deaths and Canyon County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Marv Dashiell said Bullinger is a person of interest in the murders.

He was last seen in the city of Ogden, Utah, 10 days ago.