1 dead after gun fires while being handled by 2 friends in Phoenix

PHOENIX – Two friends were “handling” a gun on Sunday night when it went off in a deadly incident at a Phoenix home, authorities said.

Brian Lujan, 18, was hit by a bullet fired from Sergio Lopez Ruiz’s gun, the Phoenix Police Department said in a press release Monday.

Police responded to the scene near 71st Avenue and Thomas Road around 6:30 p.m. and found Lujan with a gunshot wound. He died after being taken to a hospital.

“The officers were informed Lujan and his friend, Sergio Lopez Ruiz, were handling Lopez Ruiz’s firearm when it went off and a bullet struck Lujan,” Sgt. Philip Krynsky said in the release.

After interviewing Lopez Ruiz, 20, and other witnesses and reviewing evidence, detectives booked Lopez Ruiz for manslaughter.

The investigation remains active, police said.

It was the second apparently accidental deadly shooting in Phoenix in less than a week. On May 17, a 15-year-old boy playing with a gun while riding in a vehicle fatally shot a 14-year-old boy.

Also last week, police arrested a man who said he shot and killed his wife after she startled him while was sleeping at their home in Tempe.

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