The Philippine National Police is conducting a thorough internal investigation regarding the alleged accidental firing incident that wounded a police instructor and his trainee on Tuesday (Dec. 7).
This developed as PNP Chief Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos sought for a review of policy on weapons training to preclude similar incidents in police training courses involving live fire exercises.
“If accidents like this can happen in training even under controlled conditions, it is likely to happen anytime during the course of normal police functions involving firearms and live ammunition,” the Chief PNP said on Wednesday.
Carlos, himself a qualified firearms instructor and weapons specialist, said “the firearm is standard police equipment that must be handled only by properly trained personnel with updated training certification on firearms proficiency and safety.”
Based on an initial report from the Police Regional Training Center 1 in Aringay, La Union, the instructor identified as Police Corporal Benie Dupayat and his trainee, Patrolman John Conrad Villanueva, were in the middle of a firearms familiarization session with a demonstration of the operating functions of a .45 caliber pistol when the gun malfunctioned and discharged a round.
Dupayat was hit in his hand, and the fired bullet ricocheted, hitting Patrolman Villanueva in the thigh. Both injured personnel were treated at the PNP Regional Hospital.
“We will determine the veracity of the claim that this was purely accidental, at the same time, we remind our instructors to ensure safety at all times,” the PNP chief said.
Carlos emphasized that “safety is paramount in weapons training and every instructor must not fall behind this primary consideration.” (PNP-PIO) – jlo
