PNP to probe accidental death of boy with dad’s gun, gives time for grief

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – The police will allow the family of a 12-year-old boy who died on Wednesday, January 26, after accidentally shooting himself with his father’s gun, time to grieve before launching a probe into the incident.

Lieutenant Colonel Rannie Lamuctod, police chief of San Jose Del Monte (SJDM) in Bulacan told Rappler he has still to speak with the boy’s father, a cop assigned in Camp Crame, the national police headquarters in Quezon City.

“We respect that they (family) are in distress,” Lamuctod told Rappler in a phone interview. 

He said the SJDM police office would wait a bit “so that it will not hamper the solemnity of their grief.”

The town police chief said they need to conduct evaluation and further investigation before deciding on whether to file any case against the father, whose son shot himself inside a school around 5:40 am on Wednesday.

“But definitely the father himself has no participation (in the shooting),” Lamuctod said.

The Bulacan provincial police’s initial report said the boy managed to get hold of the PNP-issued gun owned by his father and brought it to his school at the Benito Nieto Elementary School in their hometown.

Lamuctod said the gun was a 9mm Pietro Beretta, which was kept inside the father’s cabinet.

“Actually, the cabinet that the gun was put in by the father was secured,” the police chief told Rappler, citing reports from investigators. 

“Syempre anak mo yan, meron siyang access sa kwarto. (Of course, he’s your child, he could enter the room.) So the boy took the gun outside the residence and brought it to the school,” he added.

The police chief said the child was “fascinated by guns as a constant player of Counter Strike, yung Mobile Legend.” 

Maybe the child wanted to see how it felt to shoot with a real gun, he added in a mix of English and Filipino.

Based on the report, the victim “tinkered with the gun but it was unfortunately discharged unintentionally, and hit the victim’s chin.”

The bullet went out through the victim’s nasal area, the report added.

Teachers rushed the injured boy to a nearby hospital. He was then transferred to Skyline Hospital for medical treatment but was pronounced dead in the afternoon.

DepEd moves

The Bulacan boy’s death comes less than a week after a Grade 7 student in Culiat High School, Quezon City was stabbed to death by a schoolmate on January 20.

The Department of Education-National Capital Region (DepEd-NCR) expressed its condolences to the family of the minor victim who was stabbed by another minor student at Culiat High School.

“We are deeply saddened and disturbed that violent incident such as this happened among our students inside the school which is supposed to be a safe place,” DepEd said.

Police reports said that the students involved were also neighbors living in the same compound at Barangay Culiat, Quezon City.

The child involved in conflict with the law is now under police custody. Students who witnessed the incident have received psychological first aid, according to the department.

“We acknowledge the recent incidents involving violence in schools. We can see from the circumstances surrounding such incidents that they are related to mental health issues, the DepEd national office said in a statement.

It added: “The Department commits to seek out mental health advocates to implement effective programs to address such issues at the schools level.”

The Vice President and Secretary of Education Sara Duterte has likewise instructed our field operations to issue a directive for all Regional Offices and Schools Division Offices to coordinate with their PNP counterparts in the Region, Cities and Municipalities in identifying schools which require spot inspections of weapons among personnel and learners, and subsequently, a report on the actions taken.

– Rappler.com