Fan Confesses To Throwing Deadly Flare At Soccer Game

A 17-year-old soccer fan turned himself into police this week for throwing a deadly flare at a Copa Libertoadores match in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

According to Fox News, the flare killed a 14-year-old Bolivian boy at the soccer match.

The 17-year-old fan, who was not identified due to his age, confessed on a Brazilian television channel on Sunday. With his mother at his side, the teenager said:

“When I first pulled the cord to set it off nothing happened. I didn’t know how to handle it … When I pulled it again it just went off. I wasn’t aiming it; I didn’t know it was going to take off like that. When I found out what happened I just thought, ‘My life is over. What am I going to do? I just killed a 14-year-old kid.’ I feel like I’m the worst person in the world. I don’t know what I’ll do with my life. I deeply regret what happened.”

Australian News reports that the teenager will not be extradited to Bolivia to face charges due to his age. The teen will most likely end up serving community service and a few years in a juvenile detention facility.

A dozen Corinthian soccer fans were taken into custody after the flare killed 14-year-old Kevin Beltran Espada. Two of those fans have been convicted of homicide.

The 17-year-old said:

“First of all I want to say sorry not only to the family of Kevin, but to all the guys who were arrested … I bitterly regret what I did. I am not protecting anybody. I only want to assume responsibility for what I did because it’s not right that others pay the price for something they didn’t do.”

In an effort to prevent another deadly incident, the South American soccer federation announced that the Corinthians will play without fans in the stadium for the next 60 days.

[Image Via Efecreata Photography / Shutterstock.com]