SWAT TEAM KILLS 11-YEAR-OLD BOY

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities said a veteran SWAT team member with a
"star record" accidentally shot and killed an 11-year-old boy during a drug
raid at his parents' home.

Alberto Sepulveda, a seventh-grader, was shot in the back Wednesday when an
officer accidentally fired his shotgun, Police Chief Roy Wasden said.
Alberto died on the floor of his bedroom.

"From the preliminary investigation, all indications so far is that the
shooting was accidental," Wasden said Thursday.

David Hawn, a 21-year department veteran and a SWAT team member for more
than 18 years, was placed on paid leave pending an investigation.

The boy's father, Moises Sepulveda, was arrested and booked on charges of
methamphetamine trafficking. The boy's mother and two young siblings were
also home during the raid.

The Drug Enforcement Agency said the raid had been part of a nine-month
investigation into methamphetamine trafficking and that 14 people had been
arrested Wednesday during separate raids.

Mike Van Winkle, a spokesman for the state Department of Justice, which has
500 drug agents and investigators, said no veterans he spoke with could
recall any other accidental shooting of children during previous drug raids.

Last year, Hawn was cleared of wrongdoing for misfiring his gun into a
suspect who had already killed himself during a SWAT raid. An internal
investigation concluded an attacking pitbull brushed the muzzle of Hawn's
gun as he and other officers were checking the suspect.

"He has a star record," his chief said.

Moises Sepulveda Jr., 14, was on the top bunk bed above his brother when the
SWAT team banged on the door. He said he does not know if his brother was
awake when he left the room.

"My father said to stay calm. Then the front door blew open and they threw
out one of those smoke bombs," the teen-ager said, pointing to the brown
scorch mark left on the living room floor by the canister

"My dad was cuffed and I was cuffed and one of them was stepping on my neck,
pointing a gun down at me and told me not to move," he said. "I heard
another blast and thought it was another smoke bomb.

"But it turns out they shot my brother."

Sepulveda Jr., echoing the feelings of neighbors, relatives and other
community members, said he didn't understand why investigators did not try
to enter peacefully.

"We would have opened the door," he said. "My dad isn't the kind of man who
would put his family in jeopardy."