A 16 -year-old teenager and his 37-year-old father have been arrested after the teenager shot and wounded a fellow school pupil at a school near Thohoyandou, allegedly with an illegal firearm belonging to his father, Limpopo police said on Sunday.

On Friday, the teenager allegedly “managed to get hold of his father’s firearm and brought it to school”, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said.

“He then shot his fellow pupil, aged 18, during an alleged heated argument at the school premises. The incident took place at the toilets of Denga Tshivhase High School, which is situated at Phiphidi village in Thohoyandou policing precinct.

The 16 -year-old teenager and his 37-year-old father were arrested and would face charges of attempted murder and negligent keeping of a firearm respectively. Additional charges of unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition had been added after it came to light that the father did not have the necessary license for the firearm. The duo would appear in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court on Monday, Mojapelo said.

The firearm had been confiscated and police were investigating to determine its origin and whether it had at any stage been used to commit other offences. The victim, who was shot in the lower body, was recovering in hospital.

“The police are further making an appeal to parents and guardians to contribute tangibly towards school safety programmes by making sure that searching of their children’s school bags before they depart to their respective schools is a daily routine,” Mojapelo said.

– African News Agency (ANA)