Rookie cop shoots self with service gun

A 27-year-old rookie policeman was seriously hurt when he accidentally triggered his service firearm that he was reportedly playing with during a drinking session inside his house in Antipolo Friday night.

Now in serious condition at the Unciano Medical Center for a gunshot wound on his neck is Police Officer 1 Wally Gonzales, a resident of 57 Fatima St., Abba Homes subdivision, Barangay Dalig, Antipolo.

Case investigator PO3 Carlo Tamondong, said that the accidental firing took place at around 8:30 p.m., inside the victim’s residence where he was then drinking with his in-laws and some friends.

During the party, Gonzales was said to have taken out his .45 pistol which he believed was not loaded with ammunition and played with it in front of his drinking companions.

Before it accidentally fired, his companions, nervous with the presence of the gun, reportedly asked Gonzales to take it away to avoid any accident which the policeman dismissed and laughed at, saying the gun was not loaded.

Minutes after this, the said firearm, apparently was triggered by Gonzales and went off, with the shot hitting him square on the neck.

Senior Superintendent Ireneo Dordas, Rizal provincial police chief, said that he has ordered an investigation into Gonzales’ liability for taking out his service firearm during a drinking session even as he expressed hope that Gonzales will recover from his gunshot wound. – Rainier Allan Ronda