Eleazar orders probe vs Valenzuela cops who shot teen with special needs

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar on Monday ordered a probe of the Valenzuela incident to determine “if there were lapses in the conduct of the operation” that led to the death of an 18-year old teen with special needs.

Initial police reports showed that the Valenzuela teener grabbed the service firearm of one of the policemen which resulted in a scuffle during a raid in a cockfight on Sunday. The service firearm went off and hit the victim.

Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, however, said Arnigo’s mother disputed the police statements, saying her son could not do that because he was “afraid of police.”

“I have directed the Internal Affairs Service to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, specifically aimed at determining if there were lapses in the conduct of the operation,” Eleazar said in a statement.

“Part of my instruction is to finish the investigation at the soonest possible time,” he added.

Eleazar said that the police who allegedly shot the victim has been placed under restrictive custody and disarmed as a part of investigative procedure.

He also called on witnesses to cooperate with the police.

“I ask all persons who witnessed the incident to help us shed light on what happened so that we can quickly and impartially resolve this case,” he said.

EDV