Boy, 3, shoots self dead with pa's gun

CEBU, Philippines -  A three-year-old boy died after he accidentally shot himself while playing with his father’s revolver inside their sari-sari store in Sitio Canamucan 3, Barangay Canamucan, Compostela town, last Monday evening.

Vincent Tirado was shot in the left side of his chest and declared dead on arrival at the Danao City District Hospital.

Vincent’s father Teodoro and mother Melita were in the house of their neighbor when the incident happened.

SPO3 Wilfredo Caturza, Danao police chief investigator, said that the parents left the child alone in the store which was adjacent to their house and later they heard a single gunshot.

Police suspected that Vincent took and played the .38 cal. revolver placed under a pillow on a bamboo bed and accidentally fired it, hitting himself in the chest with the slug exiting out his back.

The gun still had five live rounds and one empty shell in the chamber when police came to respond.

Teodoro, who owns the firearm, was reportedly a former member of the Compostela Anti-Crime Organization.

Caturza said they took the revolver to the Firearms Explosives Security Service Agency and Guards Supervisory Section for record checking if it is licensed.

They will also submit the gun to a ballistic examination.

Caturza said they are still waiting for other family members of the victim to appear in their office either to file charges or to amicably settle the incident.

Vincent’s body now lies at the Maturan Funeral Homes in Barangay Catarman. —(FREEMAN)