MANILA, Philippines ? A 15-year-old high school student in Parañaque City was killed after a gun his best friend had picked up on the street and brought to school accidentally went off and hit him.

Parañaque police chief, Supt. Ronald Estilles, identified the victim as Julian Laos, a student of the Baclaran Annex High School on Rimas Street, Dimasalang Extension in Barangay Baclaran.

Laos? best friend, who was also his classmate, was taken into custody by the police.

?Their classmates said they were best friends and had no reason to fight,? Estilles told the Inquirer over the phone.

An initial investigation showed that at around 6 a.m. Tuesday, the two boys were inside a classroom when the suspect took out a ?paltik? or improvised ?pen gun? and showed it to the victim.

Estilles said the suspect was demonstrating to Laos how the gun worked when it accidentally went off.

?The bullet hit Laos in the right side of the body. He died minutes later,? the police official added.

Estilles said the gun was a small firearm into which a single cal. .22 or cal. .38 bullet could be loaded. It could then be fired by using a rubber band.

Police said the suspect told him that he had picked up the gun the night before in Barangay Baclaran, where some youth gangs are known to hang out.

?The night before, we mounted operations against warring fraternities in Barangay Baclaran. They were mainly out of school youth who carry ?paltik? and rob passersby when no one is looking,? Estilles said.

He named some of the youth gangs operating in the area as the True Brown Style, Pinoy Ruthless Mobstah, Ruthless Asian Mobstah and Batang X.

The victim was initially brought to the Santa Rita Hospital but was declared dead on arrival by attending physician Elena Sanico.

Estilles said they filed homicide charges against the suspect.

?However, the suspect being a minor, we coordinated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development so that they could take him in. Once the suspect is 18, he will be put on trial,? he added.