The soldier home on leave from Iraq who was shot in the face near Lake Elsinore on Thursday was wounded as a friend tried to wrestle the gun away from a stranger angry about a toilet-papering prank, the friend said Monday.
Army Spc. Daniel Alvarado Jr., 25, was in stable condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center after being shot while keeping an eye on his nieces, ages 16, 14, and 11, and their friends as they engaged in a harmless joke, friends and family said.
"He's doing real well right now, but the swelling is still bad," said Alvarado's father, Daniel.
The soldier's father said his son and the son's longtime friend, Robert Limon, had gone out shortly after midnight Thursday with the girls.
"Everybody's been going TPing for generations. It's a part of growing up, " said Alvarado's father. "The 11-year-old was so excited. It was her first big-kid adventure."
The adventure almost turned deadly when a neighbor, angered by the prank even though his house was not touched, chased the group in his truck.
Limon said he saw the gun in Aubrey Weldon's lap. Weldon cocked the gun and pointed it toward them, Limon said.
"It happened so fast," said Limon, 22, of Temecula. "I see the gun and him cocking the hammer on it.... I heard the gun go 'chk, chk.' That's when I moved my left hand and grabbed his right arm. He fired off a round. It grazed my head and hit [Danny] in the cheek. I [saw] the blast right in front of my face. I could even taste the gunpowder."
Limon said he tried to keep hold of Weldon's wrist after the gun went off, but that Weldon shook loose and drove off.
"I felt something running down my face," he said. "It was a lot of blood. I turned around and I [saw Danny] was lying on the ground. I thought he was dead."
But Alvarado Jr. said he was fine, and Limon raced to phone for help. Limon was treated for a forehead gash.
Weldon "had time to stand in front of his house and think about what he was going to do ... he had the intention to shoot," Limon said. "He had a bullet in the chamber, it was off safety, and he was pointing it out the window."
Minutes after the shooting, Weldon called police, a detective said.
"He was very upset, he was very apologetic," said Riverside County Sheriff's Det. Joseph Greco, who questioned him. "At the same time, why bring a gun to confront people?"
