School boy shoots his neighbor

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta Police arrested on Thursday a senior high school student for fatally shooting his neighbor in the head.

The shooting, which a police source suggested may have been accidental, occurred on Wednesday close to the victim's home on Jl. Lontar, Menteng Atas, South Jakarta.

The schoolboy has been identified as Priya and the victim a 30-year old business man named Saefudin.

Saefudin died on his way to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital on Wednesday evening due to serious head injuries.

His neighbor, Wardah, said she was due to play badminton with him when she heard a loud gun shot coming from the badminton court, which is located next to Saefudin's house.

"I was picking up a shuttlecock from behind me when I heard a loud sound. I then turned round and saw that Saefudin had already fallen down on the court," she told reporters at the victim's house on Thursday.

Wardah, 22, said she also saw Priyo standing around three- meters away from the fallen man holding a gun.

Priyo is a third-year student at the private August 17 Senior High School in Tebet, South Jakarta.

"We rushed to the victim to give him first aid," Wardah said.

She said that Priyo had got the gun from a man named Kris, who lives in a boarding house in the neighborhood.

"Kris left the scene after the incident," she said, adding that the victim was then rushed to Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital for emergency medical treatment.

A source at the South Jakarta Police station said the 17-year old senior high school student got hold of the gun from Kris, who was later identified as a debt collector.

"We are still investigating the case. Apparently, the student was playing with the gun without Kris' supervision. He pointed it at the victim's head and pulled the trigger," he said at the South Jakarta Police station.

Kris' whereabouts are still unknown.

A police report available at the city police headquarters states the gun used in the incident was an air rifle.

However, the police source said it was an FN handgun, a firearm used by military personnel. (asa)