Irvine man arrested after 13-year-old boy dies from possible self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say

An Irvine man was arrested after a 13-year-old boy died from what detectives believe could have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said Friday.

Christian Douglas Yeager, 56, was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of criminal storage of a firearm and child endangerment in connection with the fatal shooting, according to the Irvine Police Department. Police the boy and a friend were visiting another child at Yeager's home and there was a woman present inside the home at the time when the shooting happened.

When officers responded about 2:42 p.m. Thursday, they found the boy injured and tried to save him, police said. He died a short time later.   

In a statement, the Irvine Police Department said detectives believe the boy's fatal wound was self-inflicted but they are still investigating.  

"Whether the injury was intentional or accidental remains under investigation," the police statement reads. "We are trying to understand what occurred before the incident."

Yeager was not home at the time but investigators believe the gun involved in the fatal shooting was "unsecured, loaded, and resting on a nightstand in plain view within Yeager's bedroom," the department said in a statement.

Detectives found multiple unsecured firearms inside the bedroom which were all recovered and determined to belong to Yeager, according to police. 

Under California Penal Code § 25100 (a), criminal storage of a firearm is defined as a crime in which a person keeps a firearm within any premises under their custody or control and they know — or reasonably should know — that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without a guardian's permission or that a person who cannot legally possess a firearm is likely to gain access to it. 

Guilt of the crime also requires that a child — or a person legally prohibited from possessing a firearm — obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to themselves or another person.

Irvine police said officers have been working with the Irvine Unified School District to offer support and resources to students and staff at a middle school in the district. The department has provided information on firearms safety which can be found here.

The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 988 and the Crisis Text Line can be reached by texting TALK to 741741.