A 17-year-old boy died on Thursday after his father shot him with a pump gun.
According to Mulanje police spokesperson Gresham Ngwira, Victor Matchado, a security guard at Thuchila estate in Mulanje was knocking off from duty and as he approached his house with a gun, one of his children requested that he carries the gun as part of welcoming him.
After the boy got it, his sister also demanded to carry the gun a thing that led to disagreements between the two.
“Seeing this, their father started intervening in the situation with the aim of taking the gun from the two.
“Unfortunately, in the process of doing that, he accidentally pulled the trigger shooting the child on the shoulder. The child who was a form 2 student at HHI in Blantyre, died on the spot,” Ngwira said.
Following the report, police visited scene of the incident and ferried the dead body to Mulanje district hospital mortuary for postmortem.
Meanwhile, the father is in custody as further investigations continue.
Victor, 39, comes from Jemusi village while the deceased, Harnet Matchado came from Mpando village both of senior chief Mabuka in the district.
Meanwhile, police are advising people who use guns in their workplaces to ensure they employ safety measures to avoid reoccurrence of incidents like this one.
The police say such weapons should not be left in the hands of children and untrained people as this may lead to loss of life as is the case here.
