An 11-year-old child from Makeni East in Lusaka tragically passed away after being shot in the ribcage by an eight-year-old playmate.
According to speculation, the eight-year-old murder suspect asked the deceased John Sakala and his companions to see his grandfather’s shotgun.
The young suspect is thought to have pulled the trigger after showing them the gun, which had two rounds of ammo, before the bullet entered the victim’s left rib and exited through the right.
According to police deputy spokesperson Danny Mwale, the incident happened yesterday at or around 10:00 a.m. at the Makeni East house of the young suspect.
He claimed that the victim was taken shortly after the incident to the University Teaching Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“Facts in brief are that today, March 27, 2023 at around 10:00 hours, the eight year-old boy invited his three friends to go with him at his grandfather’s house where he stays with him. He told them to go and have a look at a firearm which his grandfather owns. Soon as his friends arrived, the boy moved the firearm from where it was kept with a view to show it to his invited friends. It was there then that he put his finger and pulled the trigger which eventually shot at John Sakala,” he said.
Mr Mwale said the bullet penetrated from the left ribs up to the right where it exited the deceased’s body.
“The firearm in question is a shot gun and had two rounds of Ammunition at the time. Police suspect that the Firearm was already loaded with ammunition by the owner identified as Masson Nyirenda aged 72 of Makeni East,” he said.
He claimed that the deceased boy’s body had been transported to the UTH mortuary for an upcoming postmortem, Mr. Nyirenda had been charged with failing to secure a firearm and was in detention, and the grandson who had shot his friend had been taken to Social Welfare for safekeeping.
