Sheriff: 11-Year-Old Oakley Boy's Shooting Death Not Accidental
OAKLEY (CBS SF) - An 11-year-old boy who was shot and killed in Oakley on Wednesday night apparently shot himself intentionally, a sheriff's spokesman said Thursday afternoon.
Officers found the boy, identified as Anthony Garcia, suffering from a gunshot wound at a home in the 1300 block of Yosemite Circle after responding to reports of a shooting shortly after 7 p.m., Contra Costa County sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said.
Fire personnel pronounced the boy dead at the scene a short time later.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, Lee said investigators believe that "the shooting does not appear to be an accident, and that the boy was killed as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
Investigators had initially believed the shooting was accidental.
Anthony went by the name "A.J." and was a sixth-grader at Holy Rosary School in Antioch, said Mike Brown, spokesman for the Diocese of Oakland, which oversees the school.
He said he does not know whether Anthony had any siblings at the school.
Grief counselors and Holy Rosary Church pastor Father Roberto Corral are at the school today speaking with students about Anthony's death, Brown said.
Students will be able to attend a prayer service in Anthony's honor at the Holy Rosary Church at the end of the school day, and a letter is being sent home to parents to inform them of support services that are available, he said.
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