A gun wielding ten year old girl who had previously scared off her siblings with a 30.06 rifle at Makakung village near Kareng has reportedly succumbed to death after turning the rifle on herself.
Police say the standard four pupil at Makakung Primary School had on Saturday at around 3pm threatened to shoot her siblings with her parent’s rifle after loading it with a number of bullets. And as the siblings ran for cover at a neighbor’s house, the young girl allegedly turned the gun on herself and got injured on the stomach. The neighbors immediately phoned her parents, but unfortunately she was certified dead upon arrival at Letsholathebe Memorial Hospital.
Although investigations to ascertain if there was negligence on the part of the deceased girl’s parents are still at an initial stage, Superintendent John Kelebeng of Maun Police says there is a probability that the gun might have been kept in an unsafe place where even children might have had easy access to it. He could neither be drawn into saying with certainty if the girl might have committed suicide or wanted to commit murder, or if the death incident was a mistake.
“All I can say is we are equally shocked by the incident, considering the girl’s age and how everything unfolded. I cannot at this point say she had any motives or intension to end her life or that of her siblings. Guns are generally most dangerous weapons. And so I would like to advise parents and caretakers alike to keep them and other ammunition away from the prying eyes of children so as to deny them access”, he said.
