‘Cop’s death not a suicide’

Investigators ruled out suicide in the death of a policeman who was found with a gunshot wound in the head at home in barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

 
PO1 Arnold Lao-ay, 30, may have been killed after his .45 pistol went off while he cleaned it at past 8 a.m. last Monday, said Insp. Zenaido Pastorfide, chief of the homicide section of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LLCPO).

 
Pastorfide said Lao-ay, a native of Surigao del Sur, was right-handed and if he intentionally shot himself, the entry point of the slug should have been at the right side of the head.

 
“Posible nga di kaayo siya kabisado sa iyang armas. Wa niya ma-safety while nag-limpyo sa iyang armas (It was possible that he was unfamiliar with the gun. He failed to ensure that the gun was in safety mode while cleaning it),” Pastorfide said.

 
Pastorfide said initial investigation showed that the entry point was in the left side of the head and exited in the other side.

 
Pastorfide said the policeman’s father told them that Lao-ay was last seen alive cleaning his .45 pistol in his room at 8:30 a.m.

 
Arthur, the policeman’s brother, told investigators that a gunshot rang out inside their house. Arthur tried to locate the origin of the gunshot and saw the door of Lao-ay’s room ajar.

 
Arthur called his brother but he did not respond.

 
Arthur then went inside Lao-ay’s room and found him with a gunshot wound in the head. Lao-ay’s service firearm was found near him.

 
Arthur called his father, who helped bring Lao-ay to the Mactan Doctors’ Hospital where policeman later died.

 
Lao-ay, who joined the police force in 2008, was assigned at the police station 5 of LLCPO.

 
His classmate PO2 Juven Pino described him as a silent type.

 
Chief Insp. Conrado Manatad said Lao-ay figured in a motorcycle accident in June last year. Since then, Lao-ay avoided riding a motorcycle and preferred to commute on his way to work.

 
Pino said Lao-ay was among those who applied for promotion. Lao-ay was one of three police officers whose applications were turned down.

 
SPO1 Allan Pantaleon, homicide investigator, said there were no indications that Lao-ay would commit suicide.

 
Lao-ay did not mention any personal problems to his family and his fellow police officers did not notice that he was problematic, said Pantaleon.

 
The policeman’s body will be transported to Surigao del Sur after several vigil wakes in a chapel near the Lao-ays residence./CORRESPONDENTS FE MARIE D. DUMABOC AND NORMAN V. MENDOZA