A Dallas man is facing a second-degree manslaughter charge after police say he admitted to fatally shooting another man with an Airsoft rifle.
Dallas police said 29-year-old Miguel Angel Moreno-Lara waived his rights and gave detectives a statement about what happened Sunday night inside his apartment on Larga Drive.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC 5, Moreno-Lara said he was there with his brother, who was cooking in the kitchen, and another man identified as Jose Manuel Lara-Gonzalez when he went to his bedroom to get his .117-caliber Airsoft rifle.
Moreno-Lara told police he twice loaded and shot the rifle at a TV stand inside the apartment. He told police he then loaded the rifle a third time but leaned it against the wall before firing the round.
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Moreno-Lara told police that a short time later he picked up the gun and pointed it at Jose Lara-Gonzalez and, as a joke, pulled the trigger.
The round hit Lara-Gonzalez in the chest, apparently fatally wounding him.
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Investigators learned that another man, identified in the affidavit as Alejandro Lara, entered the apartment after the shooting and gave the victim CPR but the man was unable to be revived.
Dallas police arrived a short time later and reported the incident as a shooting where the victim suffered a "single gunshot wound to the chest after being shot with an Airsoft rifle."
Lara-Gonzalez was pronounced deceased at the scene by Dallas Fire-Rescue, police said. No further information was released about the man's injury.
Moreno-Lara, who now faces a second-degree manslaughter charge, said he forgot he'd loaded the gun before leaning it against the wall and fired it at Lara-Gonzalez as a joke.
As of this writing, Moreno-Lara is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $75,000 bond. It's not clear if he's obtained an attorney.
Airsoft guns are low-velocity, air-powered guns that are used in recreational games much like paintball. They fire small, plastic rounds and are generally considered safe when used with protective equipment. NBC 5 specifically asked the Dallas Police Department if the gun used was an Airsoft gun, as mentioned in the department's initial statement and in the affidavit. The department's subsequent statements again said the gun was an Airsoft gun.
