Teen fatally shoots self with cop’s gun

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A teenage girl shot herself dead with a deputy’s gun in the lobby of a sheriff’s station in California, authorities said Monday.

The girl, who has not been named, began hammering on the door of the station in City of Industry, near Los Angeles, on Sunday evening.

As officers went to open the door, the girl managed to grab a service weapon from one of them.

“The juvenile lunged into the lobby and reached for the deputy’s holstered firearm and took possession of it,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

“A struggle ensued between the deputies and juvenile who was armed with the deputy’s firearm,” the release said.

“During the struggle, the juvenile suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

The girl was pronounced dead at the scene by attending paramedics.

Homicide detectives were probing the incident, which officials said began with a call from her foster parent reporting the child was suffering from an apparent mental health crisis.