A SOLDIER assigned in a training center died in an accidental firing incident in the province of Zamboanga del Sur, the police reported Monday, February 1, 2021.
Police Captain Edwin Duco, Police Regional Office-Zamboanga Peninsula information officer, said the incident happened at 5:15 p.m. Sunday, January 31, in Purok Alibang-bang, Santo Niño village, Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur.
Duco identified the fatality as Staff Sergeant Neil Solante Gonzales, who was assigned with 1st Division Training School under the Army's 1st Infantry Division based in Upper Pulacan village, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.
Duco said that prior to the incident, Solante was having a drinking session together with his co-members of the Zeta Phi Omega at the residence of Richard Ramos in Purok Alibang-Bang in Santo Niño village, Tukuran.
Investigation showed that Solante, who felt uncomfortable with his handgun tucked on his waist, pulled the firearm and checked its safety mechanism, but accidentally squeezed the trigger while about to place it in his bag.
Solante was hit in his left temporal lobe and the bullet exited at his parietal lobe, causing his instantaneous death. (SunStar Zamboanga)