By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
For good police work, the devil is in the detail.
Stressing the need to not overlook the tiniest detail in criminal investigations, Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome reminded the 140,000-strong police force to preserve the crime scene and to handle evidence in a professional manner.
He said investigators must strictly observe and adhere to the standard operating procedures in the Philippine National Police manual on the physical handling of evidence.
Under the rules, “the crime scene processing and the collection, handling and transportation of evidence shall primarily be conducted by the scene-of-the-crime operations specialists of the PNP Crime Laboratory.”
“However, in some instances, the first responder or the investigator-on-case may have to collect evidence that might otherwise be destroyed or contaminated if uncollected,” according to the manual.
Bartolome issued the reminder after the chief of police of Mexico, Pampanga, Superintendent Wilson Santos IV, was shown on TV holding the gun used in the September 20 incident at a mall when a 13-year-old boy shot and killed his 16-year-old male friend before turning the gun on himself.
Proper handlingThe official said Santos had shown an “unprofessional way” of handling evidence since he was holding the weapon with his bare hand.
The Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management issued a related memorandum reminding police officers that any equipment and materials seized during police operations as well as those recovered from crime scenes should immediately be submitted to the local Crime Laboratory Office for capturing and cross-matching by the Integrated Ballistic Identification System.
PAMPANGA. Mexico chief of police Supt. Wilson Santos IV gathers evidence recovered from the crime scene during Tuesday’s shooting incident inside SM City Pampanga involving two teenagers. (Chris Navarro)
Bartolome said the PNP personnel must strictly act according to the rules to strengthen their credibility as law enforcers.
For this reason, he said his recent directives had touched on keeping police officers on the right side of the law, such as apprehending police officers found driving their vehicles without a license or plate, not wearing helmets when riding a motorcycle.
Originally posted at 05:49 pm | Thursday, October 06, 2011
The 13-year-old boy involved in a shooting incident inside SM Pampanga passed away before 3 p.m. on Wednesday, doctors said.
The life support system on the other boy, a 16-year-old, was also removed Wednesday night.
He and his younger companion were earlier declared brain dead by doctors.
Dr. Eric Salas of San Fernandino Hospital, the attending physician, said the family of the 13-year-old boy decided to have his life support tube removed.
The family of the younger boy also decided to donate his vital organs. The boy's remains have been brought to his family home in Bataan province.
Salas and Dr. Alfonso Danac, head of the emergency room of Jose B. Lingad Hospital in San Fernando City, are now coordinating for the harvesting of the organs.
The family of the 16-year-old victim said his vital organs will also be donated and his body be brought home to Bulacan.
Supt. Wilson Santos of the Mexico, Pampanga police said the shooting incident involving the 2 minors happened in front of the Astrovision store at the mall's Building 3.
Quoting police, SM said the 13-year-old boy first shot his alleged lover, a 16-year-old boy, in the head. The boy, who used a caliber .22 pistol, then shot himself in the head.
The victims were first rushed to the Jose B. Lingad Hospital.
The younger boy was transferred to San Fernandino Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU), while the other was sent to V.L. Makabali Hospital for a CT scan, and was brought back to Jose B. Lingad Hospital.
Santos said police authorities found a caliber .22 pistol, 2 empty bullet shells, and 3 live bullets at the scene.
Initial investigations showed that the 13-year-old boy planned the shooting, based on his posts on his Facebook page prior to the incident.
Authorities said the 13-year-old wrote the name of another person, whom they believe he was jealous of, on his T-shirt.
"Parang mayroong third party na involved dito. May pinagseselosan. Katulad nung sa T-shirt [na suot nung biktima], mayroon siyang minumura," Santos said.
Santos added that a suicide note was recovered from the younger boy, saying he was willing to die with his companion.
A card was recovered from the 16-year-old, which gave details about their relationship.
The boys' parents had no idea that the 2 were going to meet in Pampanga.
"Ang paalam niya SM Baliwag lang e. Taga-Baliwag kami e. Hindi ko kilala ['yung kasama niya]. Ang kaibigan ng anak ko, mga kaklase niya sa grade school at high school," said the mother of the 16-year-old.
The parents of the 13-year-old, meanwhile, thought their son was at school.
SM said a suicide note found in the bag of the 13-year-old "revealed that the incident was a crime of passion and of a personal nature."
"SM has also exerted all efforts to help the two victims and both their families are now in the hospital," the company said.
SM deplores incident
SM management immediately deployed additional security personnel to assist authorities in the investigation.
A portion of SM Pampanga where the shooting happened was quickly closed off to the public and media.
Mall workers in that section were also ordered to vacate the area while investigations continue.
"The SM management deplores the unfortunate incident that happened today at SM City Pampanga and is fully cooperating with the authorities in this regard," the company said in a statement.
"We apologize for whatever inconvenience or anxiety we may have caused our customers and wish to let them know that the situation in the mall is back to normal."
SM said that while security at its mall was "constantly vigilant," the gun used was very small and difficult to detect.
Source: TV News
The well-uniformed but coward-and-unprepared-to-rescue-teenage-lives SM Pampanga security force.
