Boy, 13, gunned down in alleged ‘shootout’

A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by an unknown assailant while he was with his friends in Barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City last Thursday night.

Kenneth Tampus of Zone Tamatis in Paknaan, who is reportedly a member of a gang, died in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City a few hours after he was taken there for treatment.

Senior Insp. Mercy Villaro, Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) spokesperson, said that Tampus and a group of minors were gathered in an isolated area located just a few meters away from the village’s 6.5-hectare relocation site, celebrating their gang’s monthsary. The gang’s name is Bradada. “Monthsary man kuno sa gang nila sa Paknaan. Kaning bataa apil ni sa gang nga (They were reportedly celebrating the monthsary of their gang in Paknaan. The victim is a member of a gang called) Bradada,” said the MCPO spokesperson.

The minors then heard a gunshot at 8:55 p.m., and saw Tampus already wounded.

Tampus was brought to the Eversley Childs Sanitarium in Mandaue after he suffered a gunshot wound in the lower part of his stomach, according to Villaro.

She said it was a staff of Eversley that called the Mandaue Police Station (MPS) 3 informing the police that a wounded minor was brought there.

Tampus was later transferred to the VSMMC.

It was the victim’s mother who informed the MPS 3 about her son’s death.

Villaro said that during the investigation, Tampus’ minor companions initially said that “nagpinusilay” or there was a shootout.

However, Villaro said the minors later changed their statements, saying that they don’t know what happened.

“Ang mga bata sa area silent sila. Di manulti kinsa (The boys were silent. No one wants to identify the culprit,” she said.

There was no firearm found by the team of police investigators at the crime scene.

MCPO will check the background of the victim and investigate the identity of the gunman. /