(Second update)
A 12-year-old boy who allegedly got addicted to playing shooting game “Counter Strike” died after he accidentally shot himself in the head using his policeman father’s gun while inside a school in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan on Thursday morning, Jan. 26.
Lt. Col. Ronaldo Lumactod, chief of San Jose del Monte City Police Station, said the victim died around 1 p.m. at the Skyline Hospital in San Jose del Monte City after sustaining a gunshot wound in the chin that exited his nose.
Initial investigation showed that the boy, whose identity was withheld, managed to get his father’s firearm, a Philippine National Police (PNP)-issued 9-millimeter, P. Beretta gun, from their cabinet and sneak it into Benito Nieto Elementary School in Brgy. Muzon, San Jose del Monte where he attends as a Grade 6 student.
His father has a rank Police Executive Master Sergeant (PEMS) and is assigned at the Directorate for Police Community Relations (PNP-DPCR) in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Accordingly, the boy was playing with the gun at the school’s comfort room when it accidentally went off around 5:40 a.m.
“The boy went to school this morning and he brought with him the PNP-issued firearm of his parent. While in the CR, the gun suddenly went off and the teachers heard the gunshot. They discovered the boy bleeding so they rushed him to the hospital,” Lumactod said in Filipino in a radio interview with DZRH.
The victim was in a critical condition from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. when he was admitted to the hospital. Around 10 a.m., doctors declared that he was already in a stable condition until 12 noon.
"But after he was subjected to a CT scan, it was found out that there was still a shrapnel embedded in his brain. He was declared dead at around 1 p.m.," Lumactod said in a separate interview.
Lumactod said investigators were probing how the boy managed to sneak the gun from the school’s security.
The police chief said among the things that the investigators were also looking into was the boy’s “addiction” to Counter Strike.
“His parents told the investigators that the victim is addicted to Counter Strike. Maybe that’s how he learned how to load a gun. And maybe his addiction to the game led him to get curious how extensive the damage will be if ever he is hit by a gunshot,” Lumactod disclosed.
"In the game, you have several 'lives' or lifeline so no matter how many times you get shot, you can still survive. The boy must have been curious if it also happens in real life. But you know, that's not the case in reality," he explained.
“This is why we remind the parents to monitor their children and guide them so we can avoid these things,” he added.