Boy Playing with Toy Gun Shot by Deputy

Palmdale (myFOXla.com) - A boy riding a bicycle and carrying a toy gun in Palmdale was shot Sunday night by a sheriff's deputy but is expected to survive, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Jane Yamamoto has the video report in the player to the left.

The boy was shot about 7:55 p.m. on 20th Street, said Deputy Ed Hernandez of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

According to broadcast reports, the boy is 15-years-old and was playing cops and robbers with some friends when he encountered the sheriff's deputy, who was responding to a burglary report.

It was also reported that someone in the area had called authorities to report seeing a teenager with a gun.

"The kids, they were playing cops and robbers ... I come running outside and the kid's lying on the sidewalk and it looks like he has a gunshot wound to his back and his midsection on the front," a witness told Fox11.

They boy was airlifted to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills with a gunshot wound to his torso, according to Channel 11.

He was in stable condition and is expected to survive, said Deputy Jeff Gordon.

Neighbors told the TV station the toy appeared to be a plastic gun with an orange tip.

"I witnessed a boy on a bike with a helmet and he was holding his bike and I saw what I think was a plastic gun, and they were riding eastbound toward Palmdale Boulevard and 20th Street East," a witness told Channel 11.

The boy allegedly pointed the toy gun at the deputy and ignored an order to drop it before being shot, according to the Sheriff's Department.

No deputies were hurt.

The shooting is under investigation.