Family: Guy Shoots Friend by Mistake, Kills Himself

A Los Angeles-area man apparently shot and killed a friend at a party by mistake and, grief-stricken, turned the gun on himself, CBS Los Angeles reports. About 10 guys in their 20s were outside a South LA house after midnight on Sunday when one of them, Dominique Barnett, 24, showed off his handgun, police say. Jerrod Taylor, 23, got upset at the sight of his longtime friend brandishing the weapon, KTLA reports, and tried disarming him—but was accidentally shot in the process. Relatives say a guilt-ridden Barnett committed suicide on the spot. "He didn't see any out," says Barnett's father, Antoine.

"I'm not sure there is much more I could have done, but I could have talked to him," he adds. "I didn't even get a chance to say bye to him." Not much is reported on Taylor, but a cousin calls him "a great kid. He was just so willing to help people." Meanwhile, law enforcement may or may not totally buy this version of events. A detective says authorities are considering Taylor's death accidental, but a sergeant at the Sheriff's Department Headquarters Bureau isn't so sure: "This one's kind of sticky," he tells the LA Times. "They're trying to figure out what happened and we won't know for a while." A grieving friend adds a postscript, telling CBS that "guns are not toys. They are not toys." (Read about a pregnant woman shot dead by a friend showing off his gun.)