School Placed on Lockdown During Search for Suspects

Vista CA— This afternoon, March 2, 2020 at about 3:44 pm, deputies responded to a call of a juvenile who was shot in the leg at a small park located at 130 Paseo Marguerita in the city of Vista.
While deputies were responding, information was broadcasted of possible suspects who were two Hispanic juveniles wearing gray zip up hooded sweatshirts and one of the juveniles was wearing a black baseball cap with “Las Vegas” printed on it.
Deputies located a male juvenile near a small pond within the park, with a single gunshot wound to the leg. The deputies applied a tourniquet to stop the victim from bleeding while waiting for Vista Fire Department to arrive. The neighboring school was given the order to lockdown until further notice.
Responding deputies established a perimeter with Sheriff’s ASTREA providing overhead coverage and the Carlsbad Police Department provided a canine officer who attempted a track. The canine track was unsuccessful. After an extensive search for the suspects with no one matching the description found, the perimeter was eventually broken down and the school lockdown was lifted.
The juvenile was transported to Rady Children’s Hospital via air ambulance, then transported by ambulance to UCSD in Hillcrest. Vista Station detectives responded to the scene and hospital to begin their investigation. Through their investigation, detectives learned the gunshot wound was self-inflicted, and appeared to be accidental.
The Sheriff’s Department is not looking for any suspects in this incident.