Crame-based cop in MPD custody for man’s killing

A police officer assigned at Camp Crame, Quezon City gave himself up after his gun went off during a fight, killing a man on Sunday evening in Sampaloc, Manila.

PO3 Salvador Nepomuceno of the Directorate for Operations in Camp Crame, was taken under protective custody by the Manila Police District (MPD) after he voluntarily surrendered over what he called the accidental shooting of 38-year-old Brendon Atibula on Lardizabal Street at 8 p.m. The victim’s two-year-old son was also injured after he was hit on the head by a steel chair during the scuffle.

According to the report of MPD homicide division, Nepomuceno also turned over to authorities his service firearm, the .45-caliber pistol which went off, hitting the victim in the chest.

In his statement to the police, Nepomuceno said that at 8 p.m. on Sunday, he and his friends were drinking in the street when the victim, who was obviously drunk, approached them and challenged his group to a fight.

He added that when the victim tried to attack them, he and his friends tried to stop him but Atibula got hold of his firearm. It went off during the scuffle, hitting the victim in the chest.

The policeman’s statement, however, was refuted by the victim’s brother, Gillian, who told investigators that around five men started hitting and punching his brother as he was holding his son in his arms.

“I grabbed my nephew who was already bleeding because of a head injury,” Gillian told the Inquirer.

He added that minutes after he grabbed the boy, he heard consecutive gunshots being fired. “Then I saw my brother lying on the pavement dead,” he said.

The family of the victim showed up at the MPD headquarters in Ermita, Manila on Monday and said that the two had long held a grudge against each other. Whenever the two men’s paths crossed, they would exchange heated words, they added.

Nepomuceno, on the other hand, explained that he voluntarily surrendered to authorities because the shooting was accidental although it was caused by Atibula who tried to harm him and his friends.

Homicide investigator PO1 Richard Escarlan said they were waiting for other potential witnesses to show up before filing the necessary charges.