April 09, 2017
A 17-year-old boy in Lower Macungie Township was fatally shot Saturday afternoon while he and his friends were handling a hunting rifle, according to an account from the victim's aunt.
Allentown resident Chris Perez was among several teens at a home in the 3900 block of Orchard Road when the firearm discharged around 3:40 p.m., The Morning Call reports. Perez was rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and pronounced dead about an hour later.
Somarie Astudillo, Perez's aunt, told the newspaper she didn't know where the boys obtained the rifle. She said they were "playing around with it" when one of them pulled the trigger and a bullet struck Perez in the stomach.
Astudillo said one of the boys at the crime scene, a home on a private road in the woods, told her nephew the rifle was not loaded
Pennsylvania State Police and the Lehigh County Coroner's office have opened a joint investigation in the shooting. An autopsy was scheduled to take place Sunday.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the victim's family pay for funeral expenses.
"Chris was shy of 18 years old when he was accidentally shot and killed," Perez's family wrote. "He was such a humble and loving soul. He loved his family and my sister more than words can express. He was taken way too soon."
Donations can be made here.
