Teenager shoots pal dead during argument

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 13-year-old boy was shot dead by his 17-year-old friend following a heated argument at a billiard hall before dawn Wednesday in the municipality of Consolacion, 13 kilometers north of Cebu City, police said.

Jade Emnace, of Purok 4, Barangay (village) Nangka in Consolacion, was pronounced dead from a gunshot to the chest on arrival at a hospital in the Cebu suburb of Mandaue.

The suspect, whose identity is being withheld by the Inquirer in accordance with law, escaped after the shooting, which happened at about 5 a.m. inside a billiard hall beside a carnival in Barangay Cansaga that had been put up in connection with the town’s fiesta on October 28 and 29.

Investigation showed that Emnace and his friend were neighbors and decided to drop by the billiard hall on their way to the carnival, according to Police Officer 1 Rey Adriaque of the Consolacion Police Station.

The two, however, had a heated argument, Adriaque reported a witness, a 12-year-old boy, as saying.  But the boy did not know what the two had been arguing about. The boy said he saw the Emnace’s companion pulling out a gun and then shooting the victim. He then ran away, bringing the gun with him, said Adriague.

Adriaque said the police talked to the assailant’s parents, who had no idea why their son had a gun.

He said both the victim and the assailant were out-of-school youths who spent most of their time in the streets rather than at home.

Adriaque said Emnace’s parents admitted that they hardly saw their son at home.