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| Child holding gun illustration |
A 7-year-old boy watched in horror as his brother and friend were killed while playing with a gun.
A 13-year-old boy accidentally shot his friend in the head with a gun he found in his house.
Then, because he was in distress, he turned the gun on himself and took his own life, while the 7-year-old child, who is the younger brother of one of the victims, watched as the incident unfolded.
13-year-old Vutiri Mashabane and his 11-year-old friend found the gun in Mashabane’s house on Friday afternoon in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
The gun owner, who is the boyfriend of the mother of the 13-year-old boy, has been arrested.
It all began when, Goodness Mashabane, 41, asked her son to push the fruit and vegetables to their home in a wheelbarrow.
When he was home without supervision, Vutiri Mashabane went to get the gun. The boys played with the gun when it accidentally discharged and shot the 11-year-old in the head. In distress over what he did, the 13-year-old killed himself.
Police captain Nelson Khoza said that the mother’s 63-year-old boyfriend has been arrested and will appear in the Mhala Magistrate’s Court on charges of negligence with a firearm.