Filtered By: Topstories
News

Report: 7 people hurt as LRT security guard accidentally fires gun


UPDATED 1:30 p.m.- Seven people were injured after a security guard of the Light Rail Transit (LRT)-EDSA Station along Taft Avenue, Pasay City "accidentally" fired his service firearm. A radio dzBB report quoted police officials as saying the security guard, identified as Roel Bustarde from Kaizen Security Agency, "accidentally pulled the trigger of his shotgun." He was immediately taken into police custody after the incident happened at about 12:25 p.m. Radio dzBB’s Glen Juego reported that the seven people, including three males and four females, were rushed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital and are in stable condition. The victims, who were standing in front of the LRT station at the corner of Taft Avenue and Epifanio delos Santos Avenue in Pasay City, sustained wounds on their feet and arms. Hernando Cabrera, LRT Authority (LRTA) spokesman, told radio dzBB that the incident happened while the security guards were having their mid-day shift change. "Accidental discharge po ito habang naglo-load siya ng baril... Mukhang change shift siya, either paalis siya or papasok po siya," said Cabrera.
Officials from the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Manila said seven people - three men and four women - hurt in the incident were rushed to their facility. Cabrera however said initial information reaching him showed only four have been hurt. Interviewed later over radio dzBB, Bustarde said he was clueless on why his service shotgun suddenly fired. "Hawak-hawak ko ang shotgun at bigla pong pumutok... Hindi ko po nakalabit, pinagtataka ko rin kung bakit pumutok," he said. The security guard said the nozzle of his shotgun was pointed to the ground when it fired. Police authorities were quoted as saying that the bullet from a shotgun "scatters" when fired, explaining why nearby commuters were hurt and suffered "gun pellet-sized wounds." Bustarde said he helped victims board tricycles that took them to the hospital. "Isinakay ko po kaagad sa tricycle upang dalhin sa ospital," he said. The victims did not see how the gun was fired. “Di ko nakita kasi nakatalikod ako basta narinig namin malakas na putok ... Paglapit diyan may tama ang pamangkin ko sa likod (I did not see the shot but I heard a loud explosion. When I looked around, I saw my relative was hit in the back)," said a relative of one of the victims. A vendor at the LRT station, the wife of one of the three victims, told radio dzBB said she did not see but only heard the firing of the gun. "Ang asawa ko sabi, 'May tama ako.' Pati pamangkin ko may tama din," said the woman, who was not identified in the report. The radio report said the incident sent LRT commuters scampering away from the scene. – VVP, GMANews.TV
LOADING CONTENT