Child hit by stray bullet in Laguna
SAN PEDRO CITY — A seven-year-old child was hit in the head by a stray bullet fired by a drunken provincial jail guard in Lumban, Laguna, the police said.
The victim, Isaac Gabriel Ruda, was playing inside their house in Barangay Bagong Silang when hit by a bullet that came through their window at about 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The bullet from a caliber-22 handgun went into the child’s head “but did not go in very deep,” said Senior Insp. Richard Corpuz, Lumban police chief. “The child survived,” he added.
In a phone interview Monday, Corpuz said neighbors reported seeing Mario Cortez, 56, a provincial jail guard and resident of the village, indiscriminately firing a gun.
According to Corpuz, Cortez was off duty and was drunk when the incident happened. Cortez was arrested by the police at his house Sunday night.
Cortez has been charged with reckless imprudence resulting in physical injury. The police also recommended the filing administrative charges against the suspect before the Laguna provincial jail.
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