QUEEN CREEK, AZ – Pinal County Sheriff's deputies have arrested a man following the investigation of an accidental shooting death Monday afternoon.
At about 12:30 p.m., deputies responded to an emergency call at a home near Schnepf Road and Skyline Drive in Queen Creek.
Deputies found Louis Joseph Moreno, 20, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, according to a Pinal County Sheriff's Office press release.
Lt. Tammy Villar said Moreno, who lived in a house with another family, was searching through a closet with a second person right before the shooting.
Both apparently found a gun inside and started to play with it when the gun went off, according to Villar.
Villar said investigators have reason to believe Moreno thought the gun wasn't loaded, then put it to his head and pulled the trigger. However, the investigation is still active and detectives are awaiting autopsy results for confirmation.
Moreno was alert and conscious while someone inside the home called 9-1-1, according to Villar.
Arriving paramedics gave the victim treatment, but later pronounced him dead, Villar said.
There was one adult, a teenager and two children home at the time of the incident, Villar said.
Following the investigation, deputies arrested Gilberto Flores Santana, a renter of the home, for alleged crimes not directly related to Moreno's death, according to the release.
Santana was booked into the Pinal County Adult Detention Center for weapons violation and possession of stolen property charges.
