Rifle grenade goes off, kills teen, grandpa

A teenager and his 78-year-old grandfather died after a rifle grenade the latter kept inside their house in Grace Park, Caloocan City, exploded Monday night.

Investigators, however, have ruled that the victims’ deaths were an accident.

Caloocan police investigator PO2 Cesar Garcia said that Geronimo Dacillo and his grandson, 13-year-old Rafael Vincent Velasquez, died on the spot, with the teenager suffering the more severe injuries.

According to the initial investigation, the rifle grenade was kept inside a bag under a TV set in Dacillo’s room on the ground floor.

Before the explosion, the teenager picked up the bag and tried to determine what was inside it by pounding it repeatedly, Garcia said.

The boy’s sister, who was also inside the room, told investigators that she saw her brother toying with something in his hand. At that time, their grandfather was lying on the bed, she added.

The police said that when Dacillo saw what his grandson had in his hand, he rushed to the boy but the grenade suddenly went off.

There were three other people in the house when the grenade exploded around 8:30 p.m.  Responding members of the Caloocan Police Community Precinct 2 arrived about 10 minutes later.

Garcia said an investigation was ongoing to find out how Dacillo had gotten hold of the rifle grenade which was government-issued. A relative, however, claimed that Dacillo was a retired soldier.