3 gunshot wounds blamed on bullet which ricocheted
How can a single bullet cause three gunshot wounds? An airport official has an explanation: The bullet ricocheted.
Two rookie members of the Airport Police Department (APD) were wounded yesterday after one of them allegedly fired his gun by accident as he was cleaning it inside their quarters on Sunday afternoon at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) officials, however, were hard pressed to come up with an explanation on how a single bullet caused so much damage since one of the injured was treated for three gunshot wounds. The other victim—the gun owner—suffered superficial burns on his left thigh and left hand.
MIAA Assistant General Manager for security and emergency services Jesus Gordon Descanzo told the Inquirer that 22-year-old Airport Police Officer 1 (APO1) Edcel Biag, the owner of the 9mm pistol which allegedly went off accidentally, had been suspended.
Biag now faces an administrative case of negligence and a possible case of illegal discharge of firearm, Descanzo said in a phone interview. His firearm has also been confiscated pending an investigation into the shooting, he added.
In a report from the APD based at the Naia Terminal 2 where the two victims were assigned, the shooting happened around 2 p.m. Sunday inside the APD locker room.
Biag claimed that he was cleaning his 9mm service firearm when it accidentally went off and hit the thigh of his 22-year-old colleague APO1 Wally Barongrong.
According to Naia terminal 2 medical officer-on-duty Dr. Patria Pacquing, Barongrong suffered “three wounds… on the midanterior (front) aspect of the left thigh.” She also noted a superficial wound on his left palm.
Biag, on the other hand, “sustained superficial blast injuries (burns) on his left thigh and left hand,” Pacquing said.
Both men were brought to San Juan de Dios Hospital for treatment and released immediately after.
With only one bullet casing recovered at the scene of the shooting, David de Castro, spokesperson to MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Honrado, said that the multiple injuries sustained by Barongrong could have resulted from a ricocheting bullet.
He told the Inquirer in a phone interview that Biag had since been relieved from his post and would soon undergo a seminar on gun safety and responsible ownership.
To qualify, APD members are required to be a graduate of a four-year course, be civil service eligible and undergo two months of training in the airport basic course which includes an aviation security module.
The two personnel involved in the incident just joined the airport security force last year and were initially assigned at Naia Terminal 1 before their current assignment.
