A 17-YEAR-OLD boy was shot to death by his friend, who is also a minor, near a mall in Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City around 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
Police Station 8 commander Major Joery Puerto on Thursday, June 23, said the victim, of the said village, sustained a gunshot wound to the right side of his stomach after he was shot by his 16-year-old friend using an improvised firearm.
Authorities withheld the names of the victim and suspect for being minors.
The victim was brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH), but he did not survive.
Puerto said the victim and the suspect are known to be "solvent-sniffers" and loitering near a mall in Barangay Singcang-Airport.
He said before the incident, the suspect asked the victim to buy a solvent.
When they met outside the mall, the victim failed to show the solvent, prompting the suspect to punch him.
However, the victim fought back and defeated the suspect.
The suspect then went to his friend and borrowed an improvised firearm.
When he returned, the suspect suddenly shot the victim and fled, the police added.
Puerto noted that the parents of the victim were in jail for violation of illegal drugs.
The suspect, meanwhile, was allegedly maltreated by his parents in Bago City, so he ran away and found a group of solvent-sniffing kids in Bacolod City.
“Because of their situation, they chose to stay in streets and used solvent," Puerto said, adding that "we warned them many times but they continue to violate the curfew hours for minors."
The police station commander said he is hopeful that the local government will provide shelter for the street children to address the crime incidents involving minors.
Authorities are still conducting a follow-up operation to arrest the suspect who will be charged for murder.
This is the 10th shooting incident that happened in Bacolod City from June 1 to 22, 2022.