Quezon City cop shoots 'mentally challenged' quarantine violator
MANILA, Philippines — A man who was described as "mentally challenged" was shot by a police officer who is now facing criminal and administrative charges, the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said Wednesday evening.
Spot reports said that retired soldier Winston Ragos, 34, accosted QC police manning a quarantine checkpoint on Tuesday, April 21. Among the police at the checkpoint was Police MSgt. Daniel Florendo Jr. of Police Station 5 in Fairview.
According to a statement by QCPD, police "later learned" that Ragos was carrying a loaded revolver inside his bag, hence, Florendo drew his firearm and "cautiously approached Ragos."
"The police ordered Ragos to yield peacefully, but instead of heeding to a lawful order, he attempted to pull out his handgun prompting PMSg Florendo to disable Ragos who was rushed to the Commonwealth Hospital but was declared dead at 5:57 PM of the same date by Dr. Noli Rifareal," QCPD said in a statement sent to Philstar.com.
A video of the incident circulating on social media showed Ragos had his back turned when he was shot a second time.
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In his statement, Police Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo, QCPD Director, attributed the shooting to a "judgment call."
"Nonetheless, we will investigate the incident," Montejo said in Filipino
According to Montejo, an investigation is being conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit and the District Internal Affairs Service.
Supposed operational procedure
PNP operational procedure prohibits the use of excessive force, but holds that "in the lawful performance of duty, a police officer may use necessary force to accomplish his mandated
tasks of enforcing the law and maintaining peace and order."
The police manual also directs police officers to "first issue a verbal warning before he could use force against an offender" but also says that failure to give a verbal warning is excusable "where threat to life or property is already imminent" and police officers have no choice but to use force.
It also holds that "the reasonableness of the force employed will depend upon the number of aggressors, nature and characteristic of the weapon used, physical condition, size and other circumstances to include the place and occasion of the assault."
Videos of the shooting show Ragos, who initially had his backs to the police and his arms raised horizontally, being confronted by five men in police uniforms.
"When a suspect does not follow a command like 'put your hands up', then he has the intention to fight back or may be armed. He is challenging the police," Police Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, PNP spokesperson, said in Filipino in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.
"The suspect really had a gun in his bag. And our police are strictly enforcing [Enhanced Community Quarantine] and the suspect likely took offense that he was being scolded by police."
In one video of the incident, a police officer can be heard saying "Sige, iputok mo (Go ahead, shoot)".
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