ALAMO, Texas—A 17-year-old South Texas boy is dead after a gunshot he fired at a butane tank ricocheted and hit him in the head.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino tells The Monitor of McAllen that he believes the shooting of Israel Torres just before midnight Monday near Alamo was accidental and influenced by alcohol.
He says he was urging his girlfriend to shoot the .380-caliber, semiautomatic handgun in his family’s backyard, but she refused. He withdrew the gun’s clip and fired once at a butane tank, hitting himself with the ricochet.
