Man Killed by Rifle Believed to Be Empty
A 21-year-old man was fatally shot in the Antelope Valley when a friend, who thought that the rifle he was playing with was empty, fired a shot at him, authorities said Saturday.
The victim, Robert Gladysz of La Canada Flintridge, was taken by helicopter to Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster, where he was pronounced dead, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ernie Roop.
The incident occurred at 11:30 p.m. Friday, Roop said. Five friends from the La Canada Flintridge area had been drinking heavily and playing with a .22-caliber rifle at the Littlerock Dam Recreation Area, he said.
At one point, Drew McDonald, also 21, pointed the rifle at Gladysz and pulled the trigger, thinking that the gun was empty, Roop said. The single bullet hit Gladysz in the neck. McDonald was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and taken to the Lancaster jail. Bail was set at $6,000.
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