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Stray bullet hits 11-year-old boy skateboarding in Oceanside

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An Oceanside resident who was cleaning his rifle accidentally fired a round that wounded a boy on a skateboard Saturday night.

The stray round hit the 11-year-old boy’s hand. He was airlifted to a hospital and is expected to recover.

The boy and two friends were riding skateboards near the pool of a large apartment complex on Vandergrift Boulevard south of North Redondo Drive when he felt a pain in his hand, said Lt. Dan Sullivan of the Oceanside Police Department.

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Officers searched until they found a man who admitted firing the round about 7:50 p.m. He said he was cleaning his .223-caliber rifle and a round went off accidentally, Sullivan said.

There was a bullet hole through a side wall of the first-floor apartment facing the pool.

Police detained the gun owner for questioning. Sullivan said detectives would question the man and decide whether to book him into jail.

pauline.repard@utsandiego.com

Repard writes for the San Diego Union Tribune

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