Man going after stray dog fatally shoots son instead

BATANGAS, Philippines – A four-year-old boy died from a bullet aimed at a stray dog by his own father at a beach resort in Tanauan City Wednesday night, police said.

Superintendent Willy Atun, Tanauan City police chief, said Ricardo Casalne, caretaker of the Casita de Jose Resort in Barangay Bañadero, Tanauan City, fired a caliber .22 rifle at the stray dog but instead hit his son Richard Allen in the head, as the boy suddenly appeared. 

The boy, the fifth of Casalne’s six children, was rushed to the St. Andrews Hospital in Talisay town and later transferred to the Ospital ng Mun­tinlupa where he died a few hours later.

Atun said Casalne is now detained at the Tanauan police station and could face charges of parricide.