By Anita Dangazele
- Police say the boy took the firearm from his father’s bedroom in Mqanduli and shot his cousin at midday on Thursday.
- A case of failing to safeguard a firearm has been opened against the boy’s 48-year-old father.
An 8-year-old boy has shot and killed his 7-year-old cousin in Mqanduli, Eastern Cape.
Police said the boy found his father’s licensed gun in the bedroom and fired it at his cousin. The child died instantly.
“The 8-year-old accessed the firearm in his father’s bedroom and pointed it at his nearby cousin and a shot went off, instantly killing the deceased,” said police spokesperson Captain Welile Matyolo.
Police opened a case of murder against the boy, but he has been referred to social workers.
A separate case of failing to safeguard a firearm has been opened against his 48-year-old father.
The father was due to appear in the Mqanduli Magistrates Court on Friday. However, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the case had not yet been enrolled.
Pictured above: A police vehicle.
Image source: File
