Boy killed after gun goes off

CEBU, Philippines - A two-year-old boy was shot and killed after a gun being carried by a man accidentally went off in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City, 3 a.m. yesterday.

Julver Guevarra died on the spot after sustaining a gunshot wound to his face with the slug exiting from his back.

The suspect, Jerome Abad, 35, is still at large.

A certain Josephine Rapaya, 28, said she was washing clothes in an alley when the suspect arrived and knocked on the door of their house looking for her live-in partner, Ariel Gonzaga. Gonzaga is the uncle of the victim.

PO3 Geoffrey Gutual, the lead investigator, said that the alleged assailant then asked Ariel if Gonzaga’s nephew was in their house to which Ariel responded no.

His nephew allegedly used to sleep at Arnel’s house.

The two, who are reportedly friends, then shifted to another topic, Gutual said.

“Wala man daw iyang pag-umangkon didto. Mao ‘to, na-change dayon ilang topic. Miingon daw nang suspetsado nganong giinitan daw siya sa mga istambay sa ilang dapit. Sa iyang kalagot, iya gibunot iyang gidala-dala na armas” Gutual said.

Gutual further said that the suspect then cocked the gun while pointing it to no one in particular. He believed that upon cocking the gun, the suspect unconsciously placed his finger on the gun’s trigger and it accidentally went off.

The slug pierced through the wooden wall of a house adjacent to Ariel’s where the victim was sleeping between with his grandmother Ermanita and uncle Rodrigo, both surnamed Gonzaga.

Rodrigo, brother of Ariel, was awakened upon hearing the gunshot and saw the victim beside him already bloodied. 

He and Ermanita rushed the victim to the Cebu City Medical Center where he was declared already dead.

Responding policemen of the Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office and Special Weapons and Tactics team responded to the incident but failed to arrest the alleged assailant.

They recovered a deformed slug of a .45 cal. pistol from the crime scene.

Gutual said that the victim’s mother just left for Manila to work.

Ermanita and Rodrigo were the ones who used to sleep with the victim every night, he added.

The body was taken to the Eternal Funeral Homes. The police requested that the body be subjected to an autopsy.

A case for homicide will be filed against the suspect. – THE FREEMAN