Teener died after accidentally shooting self
A teenager did not pull through after accidentally shooting himself Saturday evening at Brgy. Igang, Pototan, Iloilo.
Jason Estandarte, 19, a native of Brgy. Botong, Badiangan, Iloilo succumbed to a gunshot wound on his right thigh.
Although his injury could not be considered as fatal, the remoteness of the scene of incident could be a factor in his death, said Pototan Police Station investigator SPO2 Melchor Biña.
It was gathered that Estandarte and his uncles were guarding a farm owned by a certain Dr. Puig.
Before reaching the nearest road, they need to travel some 3 kilometers on foot.
“They need to traverse some rice lands and the irrigation area where they need to pass a bridge made of bamboo. His relatives carried the victim until he reached the barangay road and had to travel a few kilometers to reach to the hospital,” Biña added.
When Estandarte reached the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan town, he was already declared dead on arrival.
According to Primitiva Labis, the victim’s grandmother, Estandarte has been living with them for more than a month only to help in the farm.
She claimed that his children and the victim possessed a firearm – a 12-gauge shotgun – with them after several incidents of robbery of farm equipment in the area.
To avert similar incident from happening, farm owner Dr. Puig allegedly had the farm guarded by the victim’s family.
At night, they were staying at a nipa hut at the farm’s vicinity.
Meanwhile, prior to the illegal discharge of firearm, Labis claimed that her “apo” was playfully cocking the gun.
Later, a gun fire was heard followed by the victim’s asking for help from his uncle.
As this developed, police found no foul play in Estandarte’s shooting.
