Police probe: Where is the gun, who owns it?

Police are trying to locate the gun which accidentally fired and hit the leg of Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot.

After the incident last Wednesday night, the gun seems to have disappeared and no one could tell where it was.

The police want to know the owner of the gun and if it was a licensed firearm. Camp Crame recalled the licenses of the guns owned by Loot, a retired police general, after he was linked by President Rodrigo Duterte to illegal drugs. His supervision over the police was also taken away.

Cebu Provincial Police Director, Senior Supt. Manuel Abrugena ordered a deeper probe into the incident.

“You know, possessing a firearm is a privilege and as far as I can remember, the privilege of Mayor Loot to possess firearms was revoked after President Duterte declared that Loot was involved in illegal drugs,” Abrugena said.

Abrugena asked Loot to surrender the firearm but Loot’s lawyer Russel Pernites said Loot no longer has any firearms.

“I don’t know kon kinsa ang tag-iya (who owns the gun) if it is somebody else basta dili to kang mayor. (It wasn’t owned by the mayor.) Kay right now, wala na gyod siyay pusil, (Loot has no firearm),” Pernites said.

He said the mayor was with other six companions — two police escorts, two security personnel under the town’s civil security office and two drivers. They were on their way home from a wake in Barangay Lanao in Daanbantayan.

“Didto sila sa wake Barangay Lanao and then pa-uli nila mao toy nahitabo,” he said in a phone interview.

Loot, in an interview with Cebu Daily News said, he transferred to another vehicle on their way home and sat at the front seat.

He said he felt something hard on his seat and tried to get it, but it was a gun which then accidentally discharged at around 8 p.m last Wednesday.

“We changed cars while on the way home from the wake. I transferred to the vehicle my security was riding and sat where he vacated. It was dark and I felt that I sat on something so I reached down using my left hand para kapain. Kay ngitngit man. Baril pala. Doon pumutok. It went through sa upuan ng front seat downwards hitting my legs,” Loot said in a text message.

He said the accident happened due to the “laxity” of his security officer.

The mayor was then brought to the Daanbantayan District Hospital for treatment.

“Nothing serious. Through and through ang bala. No nerves and bones ,” Loot added.

Pernites said the mayor had sustained a minor wound on his leg and was advised to rest by the attending physician.

“No operation needed unya gi-advisan lang siya to rest to aid the healing process,” he said.