A 56-year-old man was charged Tuesday in the fatal self-inflicted shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Irvine.
Christian Douglas Yeager of Irvine was charged with three felony counts of child abuse and endangerment and a count of criminal storage of a firearm, all felonies, as well as a misdemeanor count of possession of a
prohibited large capacity magazine.
Meanwhile, the circumstances of the shooting, which occurred at about 2:40 p.m. Thursday, remained under investigation.
According to Kyle Oldoerp, a spokesman for the Irvine Police Department, the teen was at a residence with two other boys near Heathergreen and Weepingwood, near Culver Drive and the 405 Freeway, when the shooting occurred. The teen did not live at the home.
One of the other boys was present in a bedroom when the shooting occurred, but the other was not, Oldoerp said. The gun used in the shooting belonged to Yeager, who did not have it properly secured, he said.
Yeager was not home at the time, but an adult female family member was there, Oldoerp said.
Police recovered “numerous unsecured firearms” registered to Yeager at the home, Oldoerp said.
Investigators were working to determine whether the shooting was intentional or accidental.
The teen was a student at South Lake Middle School. The eighth-grader would have turned 14 on April 4. Counselors were made available to students and staff at the school on Friday, police said.
Oldoerp emphasized the importance of gun safety, noting that the city provides gun locks at no charge.
“This is just a solid reminder of the importance of securing firearms because tragedies can occur by unlawfully secured handguns,” Oldoerp said.
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