A teen was tragically killed when he was hit by bullet meant for a pit bull

A California teen was tragically killed by police Thursday when a bullet meant for a charging pit bull ricocheted off the ground and hit the boy instead.

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The shooting happened in the early morning hours on Thursday in Palmdale, California, after deputies responded to a report of loud music, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. When the deputies walked up the driveway, a 60 to 65-pound pit bull “aggressively charged at the deputies and attacked one of them,” biting the deputy on the knee, the sheriff’s department said.

At that time, a young man came out from behind an apartment complex and restrained the dog and took it to the back of the building, the sheriff’s office said.

When the deputies went to the back of the complex “in an attempt to corral the dog to prevent additional victims,” the sheriff’s office said, they found the teenager on the ground, shot in the chest, the sheriff’s office said. The teen was hospitalized and later died.

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The sheriff’s office said the teen was killed by a “skip round,” which had ricocheted off the ground, the Los Angeles Times reported.