- MANILA: Philippine police say a 13-year-old boy shot his 16-year-old friend inside a busy mall and then turned the gun on himself, leaving both brain dead and raising questions about gun and parental control in a country awash in firearms.
Police chief Wilson Santos of Pampanga province’s Mexico township says authorities are investigating how the 13-year-old obtained a .22-caliber pistol and smuggled it into the mall Tuesday.
Santos said Wednesday that the boys were in a relationship and that the younger one, apparently in a fit of jealously, left a suicide note that he was willing to die together with his friend.
Dr. Alfonso Danac said that they were being kept alive at a private hospital by ventilators and medicine, and that their parents have decided to donate the boys’ corneas and kidneys.