Cop plays with gun, kills self

CEBU, Philippines - A policeman met his untimely death after he accidentally shot himself with his own service firearm while drinking with his friends in Barangay Camputhaw last Thursday night.

The fatality was identified as PO2 Gonzalo Matondo, Jr., 37, a member of the Cebu City Public Safety Company and detailed at the mountain barangay of Buot-Taop.

Matondo was off duty at the time he was drinking with Asuncion Fontanasa, 59, and barangay tanods Milford Pinatil and Tacio Bardomeo when the incident happened.

Investigation conducted by the Homicide Police showed that Matondo was already drunk when he pulled out his 9mm pistol. His friends asked him not to play with the gun, but Matondo reportedly cocked it, purportedly as a joke. The gun went off when he pointed the same to his chest.

Paramedics of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF) who responded to the incident declared him dead.

Responding policemen recovered the gun with the empty shell still jammed in its chamber. They also recovered a black holster, plastic magazine, handcuff, three live bullets and three empty shells of caliber .38 from Matondo.

PO3 Michael Codaste of the Homicide Section said they will have Matondo and his companions undergo a paraffin test to erase possible doubts of foul play.

Codaste said circumstances surrounding the incident indicate that the shooting was accidental.

Matondo left two children, an eight-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl. His wife said she has no reason to believe her husband had committed suicide.

Matondo’s remains lie at the St. Francis Funeral Homes along N. Bacalso Avenue. — (FREEMAN)