A 15-year-old Laguna Hills boy who suffered a BB wound to his temple in an accident was declared brain dead on Tuesday night.
Michael Chen died about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, where he had been since the accident Sunday at his home in Laguna Hills, according to the Orange County coroner.
Michael was target shooting in his back yard, and one of the BBs may have ricocheted, said Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
"It appears to be an accident but we're going to wait until after the autopsy and determine whether it was accidental or self-inflicted," he said.
There was no immediate word on when an autopsy will be done.
Investigators have ruled out that other people might have been with the youth while he was firing a Daisy BB rifle, Amormino said.
He was last seen by family members about 5 p.m., but he did not respond later when his mother and grandmother called out to him. They went looking for him at a friend's house and in the home, authorities said.
About 11 p.m., the grandmother "heard some noises in the bushes," Amormino said. "She went outside. Unfortunately, she found her grandson bleeding from the head."
The rifle was found about 15-20 feet from the body, Amormino said, adding that the boy could have crawled that far.
Neighbor Alan Kunski later told reporters that the boy and his sister "were just like, so close."
"And you'd see, on Sunday morning, the family taking off for church," Kunski said earlier. "It's the saddest thing to even picture anybody having to endure."
