Thursday, November 06, 2008 Crime laboratory tests indicate 3 men slain in ‘shootout’ recently fired guns
AN AUTOPSY by the PNP Crime Laboratory 7 on the three men who died in an alleged shootout with members of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO)-Task Force Motorsiklo indicated the three had fatal wounds in their heads.
Initial information received by Homicide Section Chief Mario Monilar also indicated that the three men tested positive of gunpowder nitrates.
That means habal-habal driver Abran Gabato, 28, of Sitio Sandayoing, Barangay Guadalupe; Werner Ponce, 31, of Sitio Nareja, Barangay Kalunasan; and Renato Pig-iwayan, 29, of Sitio Caimitohan, Barangay Sapangdaku recently fired guns, Monilar said.
Gabato, Ponce and Pig-iwayan allegedly fired at the task force members during a motorcycle checkpoint, triggering a shootout between police and the three men. The checkpoint, led by Supt. Pablo Labra II and Senior Insp. George Ylanan, was conducted on M.J. Cuenco Ave. past 4 p.m. last Sunday.
When asked why all the three men tested positive when only two firearms were recovered from the slain motorists, Monilar said there is a possibility that the three also fired guns days before the incident.
No witnesses
Monilar said gunpowder nitrates stay in the hands of those who fired a gun for 72 hours.
Monilar said that until yesterday, his office still has not found witnesses to help in the investigation.
CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador earlier ordered the Homicide Section to conduct an impartial investigation on the incident.
Comendador has maintained that the operation was legitimate and the policemen followed the rules of engagement.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 7 has conducted their own investigation on the incident.
Range
Medico-Legal Officer and Crime Laboratory Chief Nestor Sator, in a separate interview, said that based on his findings, the shots on the three men were not made at close range.
Sator said he did not find any tattooing or smudging around each point of entry, an indication that the shots were fired several meters away from the subject.
Ponce was hit six times – one in the head, two in the neck, two in the left leg and one in the left arm.
Gabato was injured in the head, left cheek, chest and his back.
Pig-iwayan, on the other hand, was hit at the back of his head, left shoulder, lower left abdomen and left arm.
Sator, however, could not say if the death of the three men was an overkill as there are several factors to consider in determining this.
Among the factors is whether the victim was defenseless.
Sator also said ballistic examinations of firearms used by task force operatives will also determine if the shots came from one firearm. (JTG)
