Grenade spooks Quezon City cops

A grenade was lobbed at a police station in Quezon City before dawn on Monday but fortunately for the police officers on duty, the explosive turned out to be a dud.

Supt. Eleazar Matta, chief of the Fairview police station on Pearl Street, Barangay (village) Fairview, said that although the grenade did not go off, it was thrown with such force that the impact caused the station’s front door, which was made of glass, to shatter.

According to Matta, the incident happened at 2:48 a.m. Monday. None of the three police officers on duty were hurt although Insp. Jermain Garan, desk officer SPO2 Raymond Paligutan and SPO1 Hermogenes Portes were alarmed when they heard the sound of breaking glass.

It was followed by the roar of a motorcycle which sped away.

A team from the Quezon City Police District’s Explosives and Ordinance Division later went to the police station to examine and retrieve the grenade.

“The [grenade] is real but it is empty. The explosive content … has been removed,” Insp. Noel Sublay said.

The primary pin had also been removed although the secondary pin was still intact while a tape had been placed over the safety lever.

He added that the people behind the incident obviously wanted to scare the policemen stationed in the area.

Matta, meanwhile, said investigators were still trying to identify the people who threw the grenade and their motive for pulling such a stunt.

In line with this, probers were going around the neighboring establishments to see if the incident was captured on any closed circuit television camera, he added.

In the meantime, Matta said two policemen would be posted in front of the station to prevent similar incidents.

According to him, most of the station’s policemen are usually out in the field manning checkpoints at night while those left behind at the station are conducting administrative and investigative work.