Boy, 5, accidentally shoots dead younger brother

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A five-year-old boy has accidentally shot and killed his three-year-old brother in Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay, police said yesterday. 

Chief Inspector Rogelio Alabata, police spokesman for the Zamboanga peninsula region, said the incident occurred in Barangay Longilog around 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Alabata said the five-year-old boy, identified only as Renz Mark, was playing with a .45 caliber pistol they found in the room of their grandfather when it accidentally went off. 

Investigation showed the younger boy found the gun while their father was cleaning the room, and handed it to his brother.

The victim suffered a gunshot wound in the chest. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Sibud County Hospital.

Renz Mark was brought to the municipal social welfare office for counseling. Police seized the gun.

2 boys found dead

On Monday, two boys were found dead in a parked car at a subdivision in Barangay Sta. Cruz in Antipolo City.

Initial investigation showed Renz Alcoriza and Aljo Hanny Malaco, both four years old, died of suffocation.

Chief Inspector Aristone Dogwe, Antipolo police deputy commander, said Scene of the Crime Operatives conducted an autopsy on the two boys amid reports that Malaco’s head bore a bump while Alcoriza had cigarette burns and bruises in the body.

Dogwe said the two boys were last seen alive playing in the car.

Superintendent Chitadel Gaoiran, spokesperson for the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) police, said investigators are checking the footage taken by closed-circuit television cameras in the area to determine if there was foul play. – With Non Alquitran, Ed Amoroso