ZAMBOANGA CITY – A soldier died in an accidental discharge of firearm in front of his fraternity brothers in the province of Zamboanga del Sur, a police official disclosed Monday.
Police Capt. Edwin Duco, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) information officer, identified the fatality as Staff Sergeant Neil Solante Gonzales, a personnel of the 1st Division Training School under the Army’s 1st Infantry Division based in Upper Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur.
Duco said that prior to the incident, Solante was having a drinking session together with his co-members of the Zeta Phi Omega at the residence of Richard Ramos Sunday afternoon in Purok Alibang-Bang, Barangay Sto. Niño, Tukuran, Zamboanga Del Sur.
Duco said investigation showed that Solante, who felt uncomfortable with his handgun tucked on his waist, pulled the firearm and checked its safety mechanism, but accidentally squeezed the trigger while about to place it in his bag.
He said Solante was hit in his left temporal lobe and the bullet exited at his parietal lobe that causes his instantaneous death as declared by Dr. Charity Navarro Vega, the Labangan municipal health officer.
He said the remains of the victim was brought by his immediate family to funeral parlor. – Nikolai Gonzalo
