Police officer shoots and kills eight-year-old boy in Huacho; officer detained
A PNP non-commissioned officer was detained after shooting at Junior, an eight-year-old boy, during a police operation in Huacho. The Public Prosecutor's Office requested nine months of preventive detention.
Timeline of Junior's case: the boy shot during police operation in Huacho
A non-commissioned officer of the National Police of Peru (PNP), identified as Luis Nazario Chumbes, was detained after shooting at Junior, an eight-year-old minor who died days later in Lima. According to milenio.com, the incident occurred on Sunday, 19 July during an operation on Avenida Mercedes Indacochea, in Huacho, north of the capital.
What happened on 19 July
According to the testimony of the minor's mother, Verónica Portal, she and her son were returning from the Virgin of Carmen Fair in Huara in a motorcycle taxi. The driver of the vehicle, apparently under the influence of alcohol, lost control upon noticing the presence of PNP officers and the motorcycle taxi overturned.
Security agents arrived at the scene and within seconds a struggle with the driver began. A video circulated on social media shows officer Chumbes drawing his weapon and holding it in his hand for several seconds. The recording does not capture the moment of the shot, but it does show the scene in which Junior falls to the ground whilst his mother attempts to help him up.
Transfer and death of the minor
Junior was admitted as an emergency case to the Regional Hospital of Huacho. The severity of the bullet wound to the head necessitated his transfer to La Victoria Paediatric Hospital in Lima, where he ultimately died. Verónica Portal reported to local media that the costs of her son's transfer and hospitalisation were borne by the family itself.
Response from the Public Prosecutor's Office
In the early hours of 20 July, the Public Prosecutor's Office reported that the officer was detained in flagrante delicto and was under investigation for the alleged crime of negligent homicide in the attempted stage. Deputy provincial prosecutor Fernando Ayala Borja ordered the seizure of the regulation firearm, the conducting of a ballistics examination and an atomic absorption test, as well as the taking of statements from the officers who participated in the operation. He also ordered the collection of images from video surveillance cameras and a video filmed by witnesses.
Public Prosecutor's Office characterises the shooting as "disproportionate action"
The Office of the Public Prosecutor stated that Junior's death would have been the result of a "disproportionate action", without prior warning or real situation of risk that would justify the use of the weapon. The case has caused shock in Huacho, where the minor was attending primary education at the Educational Institution "Pasitos de Jesús".
Preventive detention request
At 09:40 on 21 July, the Provincial Criminal Public Prosecutor's Office of Huaura requested nine months of preventive detention against Luis Nazario Chumbes. The investigations indicate that the officer, belonging to the Emergency Squadron of Huacho, caused the death of the minor by firing his regulation weapon during the operation.
Source: Google News PE — Crime