(Eagle News) — Philippine National Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar has ordered a probe into the shooting of a teenager with special needs during an arrest in Valenzuela City on Sunday, May 25.
According to the PNP, the policeman implicated in the death of Edwin Cabantugan Arnigo—-a senior master sergeant— has been placed under restrictive custody.
Eleazar said the policeman has also been disarmed “as a matter of investigative procedure.”
“I have directed the Internal Affairs Service to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, specifically aimed at determining if there were lapses in the conduct of the operation,” Eleazar said.
He said he instructed the investigators to finish the probe as soon as possible.
According to the PNP, based on initial investigation, the local police team, including the policeman being probed, responded to the complaint of illegal cockfighting.
This resulted in the arrest of three people–including Arnigo—and the confiscation of several items that included P1,340 in bet money.
The PNP said that while personnel were effecting the arrest of the other people involved, one of the three arrested suspects, however, grabbed the service firearm of one of the policemen which resulted in a scuffle.
The service firearm went off and hit Arnigo, the PNP said.
“I would like to assure our kababayan of a quick and impartial conduct of investigation regarding this incident,” Eleazar said, as he urged the public to come forward to shed light on the incident.