School boy shoots mate for bullying him

A South African teenager charged with shooting dead a Johannesburg schoolmate he accused of bullying was arraigned Thursday and freed on bail pending his trial.

Tsundzukani Mthombi, the 18-year-old son of a police officer, allegedly stole his mother's service pistol earlier this month before he went to school. He opened fire on fellow pupil Nkululeko Ndlovu, 18, in a secondary school classroom.

Mthombi claimed to have been taunted by Ndlovu and his friends while waiting at a bus stop, the day before he stole his mother's firearm from a home safe.

He claimed to have been attacked by the same group of pupils in his classroom the next day, just before he shot Ndlovu.

Detective Isaac Mashishi said the fact that Mthombi took his mother's weapon implied that he had the murder planned.

Magistrate Emmanuel Magampa allowed him to go home on a 1,000 rand bail ($114, 88 euro) on the grounds that "the accused is not considered a flight risk and that he is not a danger to the community."

He was ordered to return for his hearing on January 16.

Earlier this month, another teenager fatally stabbed a fellow pupil at a school in the southern coastal city of Durban.

In October, two teenagers fatally stabbed another pupil during breaktime at a Western Cape province school.

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