Two teenage boys were playing with a loaded handgun Friday afternoon in a residential portion of Bell Gardens and it went off, killing one of them.

The shooting occurred at about 3:15 p.m. in the 6600 block of Foster Bridge Boulevard, said Bell Gardens police Lt. Ruben Musquiz.

The boys were 16 years old and 17 years old, Musquiz said.

“It looks like they were messing around with it (the handgun) and it went off,” Musquiz said.

The 17-year-old boy was pronounced dead at the scene, Musquiz said.

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