Fatal Victim on Hunting Trip Was Son of Man Holding Rifle

A Whittier boy on a hunting trip in the Cleveland National Forest was accidentally shot and killed by his father Saturday, the opening day of deer season, authorities said Sunday.

Adam Rafael Zavala, 8, died from a gunshot wound to the chest when a weapon handled by his father, Rafael, 48, discharged, said Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Abbott.

Abbott said the shooting was believed to be accidental but added that the investigation is continuing.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, the Zavalas were in a hunting party of four looking for deer in an area two miles west of El Cariso near the Riverside County line. Sheriff’s Lt. Rich Paddock said the boy was “shot with a rifle that you would normally hunt deer with.”

Abbott said forestry officials were first notified of the shooting and summoned the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “But Riverside looked at the area and decided it was in our jurisdiction,” Abbott said. “We sent our investigators out.”

Authorities declined to release additional details about the tragedy, which occurred about 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Examiners with the coroner’s office performed an autopsy Sunday.

This may be the first fatal hunting accident in the state in several years in which a child was the victim, and it is believed to be the first hunting fatality in the county in more than a decade.

Only two fatal hunting accidents have occurred in California since the beginning of 1994, and neither involved a child, according to the U.S. Department of Fish and Game’s Web site. Figures for 1998 are not yet listed. The California hunting fatalities occurred in 1996, and one of them was self-inflicted.

Last year, there were 66 fatal hunting accidents in the parts of North America--including the United States and areas of Canada--that Fish and Game tracks. Only two of the victims were 9 or younger. Twenty-five fatal hunting victims were 10 to 19. More than half the fatalities--38--occurred while the victims were deer hunting.

All but one of the fatalities were attributed to guns. One involved a bow.

In season, hunting is legal in all national forests, although particular areas may be restricted. Saturday’s shooting occurred off Ortega Highway, about two miles west of the small outpost of El Cariso, where a tiny roadside country store is the primary sign of civilization. Hunting appears to be allowed there.