Man Kills Himself in Russian Roulette

A young man, apparently playing a game of Russian roulette outside a friend’s home in La Habra, placed a .38-caliber revolver to his head and fired, killing himself Saturday.

Gregorio Torrez, 18, of La Habra, had left one bullet in the gun’s chamber and joked to his friend, Tony L. Tapparo Jr., 19, that he was going to play the game, Tapparo told police.

Tapparo told police that despite Tapparo’s desperate cries to stop, Torrez pulled the trigger twice, killing himself on the second try.

“Tony was screaming: ‘Don’t do it! Don’t do it! You’re crazy!’ ” Tapparo’s stepmother, Sandy Tapparo, said he related to the family later.

‘It Was Just Macho’

La Habra Police Sgt. Kirby Keltner said: “There was just a click and he (the victim) was laughing. He did it again and it fired. It was just macho.”

The gun belonged to Tony Tapparo’s father, Tony L. Tapparo Sr., and was in a drawer in their house in the 300 block of Palm Street. Tapparo’s parents said Tony Jr. had entered the house to get the gun, apparently because of some kind of trouble involving others at a nearby fast-food restaurant where the two had been earlier.

The Tapparos said their son was too upset to talk about the incident Saturday afternoon.

Tapparo Blames Himself

“He is still hysterical. He blames himself for what happened,” Sandy Tapparo said.

But the Tapparos related what happened, based in part on their discussions with the young man:

Sandy and Tapparo Sr. had arrived home from a night of bowling about 12:30 a.m. and saw their son and Torrez in the front yard along with a few other people.

“If I’d seen the gun I would have taken it away, but I didn’t know he had it,” Tapparo Sr. said.

The Tapparos went to bed, but Sandy Tapparo said she was awakened about 1 a.m. by what she thought was a firecracker.

“I started to go back to sleep, but then I heard Tony running down the hallway screaming, ‘Help me! Help me! He shot himself!’ ”

Sandy Tapparo said she could immediately smell the gunpowder when she ran out the front door, and saw part of Torrez’ body on the other side of the family car in the driveway. The family called paramedics immediately.

Police said the victim was dead at the scene.

The Tapparos said they were at the police station most of the night while Tony Jr. made a statement to investigators. Police also took tests to see if Tapparo might have fired the gun. The boy’s parents said the police told them the tests cleared him of any involvement.

The Tapparos said the other friends who had been in front of the house had left before the shooting occurred.

“Tony had no idea what (Torrez) was about to do,” the father said.

The Tapparos said they are still in shock over the shooting, and that their son is so upset they have already made plans to place him in a counseling program.

Police did not have information readily available about Torrez’s background. Tapparo Jr. was a cook between jobs, his father said. He added that Torrez and his son were close friends who spent a lot of time together.

“They had been drinking beer, but who could know how many beers it would take for a kid to do something so crazy,” Sandy Tapparo said.

Tony Tapparo Sr. said he kept the gun in the house primarily for protection. It was already loaded, he said. While Tony Jr. was not supposed to take the gun out, his father said that both of them had practiced with it and his son knew how to handle it.

Tapparo Sr. insisted that Saturday’s incident has only strengthened his determination to keep a gun in the house and make sure his son knows how to use it.

“I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry again about him taking it out anymore,” Tapparo Sr. said. “I’m pretty sure he’ll never go near it again; he’s afraid of it now.”

But the elder Tapparo, who is a mechanic, said he wants his son to get over those fears.

Both parents said they felt strongly that the easy accessibility of the gun was not a factor in the incident.

“Guns don’t kill people,” Sandy Tapparo said adamantly. “People have to be responsible for their own actions.”

Tapparo said the police kept the weapon for evidence, but that he hoped to get it back.

“It’s unfortunate, but in today’s society, you almost have to have a gun to protect yourself,” Tapparo said. Tapparo said he also has an 18-year-old daughter, who is also proficient in use of the weapon.

Times staff writer Jean Davidson contributed to this story.