COUNTYWIDE : Girl Who Was Shot With Pellet Gun Is Stable After Surgery
A 4-year-old Moorpark girl who was accidentally shot in the head with a pellet gun during a weekend camping trip was in stable condition Monday, officials said.
The pellet that hit Ashley Esquer remained lodged in her skull above her left ear after surgery at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, said Lt. Harvey Cantor of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Ashley was shot Sunday afternoon in Angeles National Forest near Pyramid Lake.
The shooting occurred as Samuel Ortega, 26, of Simi Valley showed the girl’s mother, Dawn Esquer, 25, how to load the gun, Cantor said.
“After that, it is unclear exactly what happened,” Cantor said. “But when the rifle fired, the little girl was standing less than two feet from the muzzle end.”
The incident occurred at Frenchman’s Flat Campground, where shooting is prohibited, said Jan Graham, a Forest Service law enforcement officer.
No one has been charged, Cantor said.
“Barring anything else that comes up in the investigation, this is going to be treated as an accidental shooting,” he said.
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