Police initiate probe on owner of gun that killed boy

The police are investigating who should be held responsible in an incident where a 10-year-old boy allegedly shot dead his playmate on Monday in Malabon City.

Mark Zander Ala, 7, was playing with children in his neighborhood on Chico Road, Barangay Potrero in Malabon City on Monday around 5 p.m. when he was shot dead.

According to a television interview of the victim’s father, the suspect is a 10-year-old neighbor who was allegedly irked when he was not able to answer a math question posed by Ala.

Witnesses said the boy had returned to their house and came back with a gun.

“Who owns the gun and how the boy got hold of it are the subject of an investigation. We are still waiting for the results of the ballistic examination based on the spent shell recovered at the scene of the crime,” said Senior Supt. Ferdinand Ampil, Malabon police chief.

Ampil said they could not arrest the child under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, which exempts those aged 15 and below from criminal liability.

“We are not doctors to know what was in the mind of the 10-year-old boy. But we have asked the staff of the local DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) to counsel the (boy) who was traumatized by the incident,” he said in a phone interview.

Supt. Ferdinand del Rosario, public information officer of the Northern Police District said they are still checking if the bullet that hit the victim matches the service firearm of a Caloocan police officer, reportedly a grandfather of the suspect.

The police, however, refused to identify the policeman since the investigation is still ongoing.