Cebu City Police Office director Patrocinio Comendador has declared as “safe zones” all buildings inside the CCPO headquarters where policemen will be prohibited to load their guns, carry a loaded gun, or dry-firing while inside any building of the police camp.
“The CCPO buildings should be declared ‘safety zone.’ All policemen should unload their firearms of bullets and magazines,” said Comendador as he cited the latest accidental firing that took place inside a CCPO building at the camp Thursday evening.
At that time, PO1 Esmeraldo Quillosa, who had just arrived from a police operation, unloaded his gun inside the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch office.
CIIB chief George Ylanan said the team of Quillosa had just returned from a stakeout in barangay Bulacao-Pardo on an armed person with a pending warrant of arrest. It has been a habit of policemen returning from an operation to unload their guns upon arrival in their offices, he said.
Quillosa was facing the plywood wall while removing the magazine of his .45 cal. pistol but fumbled his hold on the gun. He was able to catch the gun from falling to the floor but, in doing so, he accidentally squeezed the trigger causing the gun to fire.
The bullet went through the plywood wall to hit the lower part of the concrete wall in the lobby leading to the office of Comendador.
No one was hurt.
Comendador had ordered Quillosa to undergo a gun safety seminar.
Last February 2006 in the same lobby where former policeman PO3 Roger Castañeda, accidentally fired his gun while unloading the magazine. A policewoman at the other side of the wall was hit and wounded as a result. — Edwin Ian Melecio/RAE