Eleven-year-old boy kills friend with father’s gun

Tragedy struck at the Ayeyemi area of Ondo town, Ondo State, on Wednesday after an 11-year-old boy, identified as Ayo Afolabi, allegedly killed his friend, Comfort Emmanuel, with his father’s dane gun. It was gathered that the incident happened at 1pm while the two children were playing with the gun, not knowing that it was loaded.

It was gathered that the father of the suspect, Olanrewaju, a farmer, used the gun for hunting and was not at home when his son picked the gun from where it was kept.

Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Metro that while playing with the gun, the boy suddenly pulled the trigger while facing his friend and shot her at a close range.

The deceased was said to have died on the spot.

A source told our correspondent that shortly after the incident, the men of the state police command  from the Enu-Owa Police Division arrived at the scene, took away the corpse and deposited it at the morgue of the Ondo State Specialists’ Hospital, while Olanrewaju and his son were taken to the police station.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Ondo Command, Mr. Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident and the arrest of Olanrewaju and his son.

He said, “It was due to negligence on the part of the father. He loaded the dane gun and kept it carelessly. The kids picked the gun and were playing with it, and the boy accidentally killed the little girl.

“The father and the boy are with us and I think the father has some explanations to make concerning that incident. “

The PPRO urged parents to always keep away weapons from the reach of the children to avoid similar occurrences in the future.