A 14-year-old boy has been remanded for six days until Sunday, December 14, in connection with the fatal shooting of his friend during a game of hide-and-seek in Keningau.
Keningau district police chief Supt Yampil Anak Garai said the suspect’s 70-year-old father, believed to own the homemade shotgun used in the incident, and the suspect’s 13-year-old sibling, who allegedly hid the weapon, were also remanded to assist with investigations.
The tragedy occurred on the morning of December 7 at a house along Jalan Kem PPH. Doctors at Keningau Hospital alerted police after receiving the victim, who was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
A post-mortem revealed 14 gunshot wounds on the boy’s body, including five on the right chest, four on the right arm, two on the right knee, and three on the left side. Investigators believe the injuries were caused by scatter-shot ammunition from the locally made shotgun, known as a bakakuk.
Preliminary investigations suggest the weapon was fired from approximately three metres in front of the house. Two pellets were recovered near bloodstains at the scene where the victim collapsed.
The victim, also 14 and a Form 2 student, frequently stayed overnight at the suspect’s home, a former police housing unit within the Forest Police Force Camp in Keningau. His body has been sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu for further post-mortem examination.
