Female detainee hurt in gun mishap at QCPD

MANILA, Philippines - A female detainee was injured when a policeman’s rifle went off in the Quezon City Police District headquarters at Camp Karingal on Friday.

Police Officer 1 Ericson Eslao, 30, assigned at the Special Reaction Unit of the QCPD District Public Safety Battalion (DPSB), surrendered immediately after the incident.

The accidental shooting took place at around 7:45 p.m. at the second floor of the DPSB barracks, according to an investigation report.

The victim, Mary Grace Lasin, 41, an inmate at the QC Female Dormitory 1, said she was putting on makeup when she heard a gunshot. She sought help when she realized blood was dripping from a head wound.

She was brought to Quirino Memorial Medical Center for treatment of a superficial wound on her left temple.

Investigation showed the bullet came from the DPSB barracks, which is just in front of the prison facility. Eslao told investigators he was cleaning his M16 rifle when he inadvertently pulled the trigger.

Probers who spoke on condition of anonymity said a glass shard and not the bullet hit the victim.

“It was just an abrasion,” an investigator said.

Chief Superintendent Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, QCPD director, apologized for the incident, which “may be traced to the carelessness or negligence” of Eslao, who “manfully faced the music and surrendered.”

Eleazar said administrative and criminal charges are being readied against Eslao.