Law & Order

RUSSIAN ROULETTE IN MERCED:

A 24-year-old man is dead after police say he lost a game of Russian roulette in front of two friends early Friday. Merced police Lt. Bimley West said the victim was in the garage of a home at 690 E. 21st St. around 1:30 a.m. West said the man placed a single bullet in a chamber of a revolver and pulled the trigger. "He wanted to show his friends something that would scare them," West said. "In this case it was just one trigger pull too many." When the gun did not go off the first time, West said, the victim pulled the trigger several more times until the gun went off. The man's identity hasn't yet been released, pending notification of next of kin.