July 5, 1963 - A 16-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded early today by his mother, who mistook him for a prowler on the porch of her Hollywood home, the police reported. Mrs. Karlotta Llano (pictured), a 45-year-old divorcee, was hysterical when she discovered the tragic mistake. “I wish they’d shoot me in the head,” the sobbing Mrs. Llano told neighbors while waiting for police to arrive. She was not arrested. Louis Llano, a recent junior high school graduate, was struck in the head by one of three .357 Magnum bullets fired by his mother from a revolver. Police said there had been several reports of prowlers in the area of the Llano home during the last three months. Mrs. Llano armed her son, who slept on an enclosed porch, with a rifle equipped with telescopic sight, and kept the revolver under her pillow. Last night, they retired at about 10 p.m. to their separate rooms. “We had an agreement that neither of us was to get out of bed unless wakened by the other,” Mrs. Llano told police. Shortly after 3 a.m. this morning, she said, she was wakened by a noise. “I saw this shadow through my window,” she said. “It looked like the shadow was on the porch. The shadow started moving toward me. I pulled the gun out and fired three times. I shouted ‘Louie! Louie!’ But Louie didn’t answer. I touched his bed, and he wasn’t there. I rushed to the door and opened it. I saw my Louie lying on the floor covered with blood. I screamed.” Police were unable to question the boy to determine why he was walking about without wakening his mother. The boy, currently at Los Angeles General Hospital, is not expected to survive.
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