Stray bullet kills 9-year-old in Samar

ORMOC CITY – A nine-year-old pupil was killed by a stray bullet after two drunk men brandished and indiscriminately fired their guns at a basketball court in Calbayog City, Samar over the weekend, police said on Monday.

Authorities were looking for the suspects identified as Junjun Derio and Nestor Debuton, both residents of Calbayog City, who would be charged with murder for the death of the minor, a resident of Barangay Cogon.

In a phone interview, Senior Police Officer 1 Charles Coprada, case investigator, told the Inquirer that based on his initial analysis the victim was playing with several children at the basketball court when the two suspects, who just came from a drinking spree, arrived.

He said the two suspects wielded their .45 caliber pistols while challenging everyone for a fight. When no one took the challenge, they fired their guns in the air.

One of the bullets hit the girl in the head. When the suspects realized that a girl was wounded, they immediately ran away.

The girl’s parents then rushed her to the nearest hospital. Since her condition was critical, the girl was transferred to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City for treatment.

But the girl died on Monday morning.                                          /kga