CITY OF SAN FERNANDO鈥擜 13-year-old boy shot himself in the head seconds after he shot an older male friend inside a mall here in a case that mall owners in a statement said they deplored.
The boy, armed with a .22 cal. gun, and his 16-year-old friend were taken to separate hospitals here where they were declared in critical condition.
The incident happened between 11:45 and 11:50 a.m. as the two walked out of the Congo Grill in Building 3 of SM shopping mall. No shopper was hurt, police said.
Supt. Wilson Santos, police chief of Mexico town, said investigators found a suicide note in one of the pockets of the boy, a resident of Olongapo City.
鈥淚鈥檓 willing to die together with (name of his friend),鈥� the boy鈥檚 note said.
Another source, who read the note, said the boy also wrote: 鈥淚鈥檓 happy to kill you. No one else would own you.鈥�
The boy鈥檚 friend is a native of Bulacan. He was shot in the back of the head.
In a statement, SM management said it was cooperating with police in the investigation.
It said police officials told management that while security at SM had been 鈥渃onstantly vigilant,鈥� the gun was 鈥渧ery difficult to detect as this was so small.鈥�
鈥淲e apologize for whatever inconvenience or anxiety we may have caused our customers and wish to let them know that the situation in the mall is back to normal,鈥� the statement said. Police said the gun had three bullets. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon