BACOLOD CITY – A six-year-old girl was killed after her intoxicated father, a hacienda watchman, accidentally discharged a firearm while toying with it during a drinking session at their temporary residence in Barangay 10, Victorias City, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, August 30.
According to Police Lt. Col. Terrence Paul Santa Ana, chief of Victorias City Police, the father was handling the weapon when he unintentionally pulled the trigger, hitting his daughter in the face as she passed by. She was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Authorities arrested the father following the incident. However, he was released on Monday morning, September 1, after his wife submitted an affidavit expressing no intent to pursue parricide charges.
The father initially claimed the firearm was a homemade 12-gauge shotgun, but investigators suspect it may have been a .38-caliber gun based on the nature of the wounds.
He reportedly threw the firearm into a nearby river, and police have yet to recover it. (Glazyl Masculino)
