Fallbrook

A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed Sunday by a 15-year-old companion who said he thought the gun was unloaded, the Sheriff’s Department reported.

Efren Reyna Jr. of Vista died at Palomar Medical Center at 10:24 p.m., eight hours after he and his friend were playing with a .22-caliber automatic pistol that belonged to the friend’s father, Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Baxter said.

The shooting occurred at the friend’s home on Star Track Way in Fallbrook, Baxter said. He said the friend, whose identity has not been released because he is a minor, apparently removed the ammunition clip and slipped the bullets out, incorrectly believing he was unloading the gun.

Overlooking one round in the firing chamber, he pulled the trigger and hit Efren in the abdomen, Baxter said.

Efren was in seventh grade at Washington Middle School in Vista.