Gun was birthday gift to 11-year-old boy?

CEBU, Philippines - The gun an 11-year-old used to shoot his 13-year-old friend in Barangay Pasil last week was reportedly given to the suspect by his father as a birthday gift last April, this according to the victim.

For the first time since he was shot last week, the victim told reporters yesterday what happened a few minutes before he was shot.

The victim said he was with the suspect and four other children, playing inside a billiard hall in Pasil when he was shot.

GUN PLAY

 “One of the kids got hold of the gun, pointed it to me and pulled the trigger,” he said in Cebuano.

He said the suspect took the gun from his friend and loaded it with six live rounds.

A few minutes later, the suspect unloaded the gun but left one round inside the cylinder. It was not clear if the bullet was left inside deliberately.  

The suspect reportedly pointed the gun at two of their companions and pulled the trigger each time, but it failed to fire twice.

“I told him to stop pointing the gun at us before someone gets hurt,” the victim said.

Despite the warning, the victim said, the suspect persisted with the dangerous act.

Just before the suspect pointed the gun at him and fired, the victim said he bent over to pick up a peso coin.

Lucky coin

“A friend asked me to buy a cigarette and tossed a peso coin at me but I failed to catch it. But when I bent down to get the coin, the gun went off and I was hit,” he told The FREEMAN.

The boy was hit in the right side of his head, the left side of his body is now paralyzed.

In a separate interview, the mother of the suspect denied her husband owned the gun. She said she would not allow such a gift to be given to her son for his birthday.

“As a mother, I would not allow such madness,” she said. 

She insisted that her son discovered the gun under a computer in the billiard hall.

“What happened was an accident. No one wanted it to happen,” she said.

Initial investigation revealed that the owner of the gun was the father of the suspect.

When asked where her husband was, she said her husband is looking for more money to pay for the hospital bills of the victim.

However, Cebu City Police Office Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe yesterday ordered the immediate arrest of the father of the suspect after they discovered an arrest warrant against him for drugs.  

Forgiveness?

For the relatives of the victim, forgiveness is a possibility, but the victim himself, who remains in pain inside the Cebu City Medical Center, said he cannot give it as of now.

“What he did was very painful. I can no longer move the left side of my body because of what happened. I can’t forgive him,” the boy said.

The Barangay Pasil Council is set to give the victim’s family P10,000 in financial assistance.

Pasil Councilman Carlito Sabalones said they are also coordinating with the office of Rep. Tomas Osmeña for possible additional assistance to the victim. 

Mayor Michael Rama has also assured that the Cebu City government will help shoulder the medical expenses of the boy.

As to comments that the family of the suspect should shoulder the expenses of the victim, Rama said “Ah, labaw pa to nga pobre.”

The mother of the suspect went to City Hall last Monday to surrender her child to the mayor, who in turn, referred the child to social workers.

It was reported that the victim’s medical expenses at CCMC has already ballooned to over P20,000 and his parents do not have the money.

The mother of the suspect gave the victim’s family P5,000 in financial assistance.

Rama yesterday instructed his staff to call CCMC acting director Gloria Duterte to attend to the needs of the victim. /BRP (FREEMAN)