Ateneo de Zamboanga shooter’s father left guns in car — BOC

MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno explained that the Zamboanga City school shooter’s father, a now-suspended district commander of the local port’s police, left his firearms in his vehicle.

“Yung mga baril, nasa sasakyan daw niya. Naiintindihan ko naman. Delikado yung lugar na yun. Dapat armado yung mga tauhan namin (The guns were in his car. I understand. That was a dangerous place. Our personnel should be armed),” Nepomuceno told reporters in a phone interview on Wednesday morning.

“Naghatid daw yung driver. Hindi naman daw siya kasama. Kaya lang nandoon sa sasakyan yung kanyang mga baril. Nagkaroon ng access yung bata (But, it was his driver who brought his son to school. He wasn’t there. But, the guns were in his vehicle. So, the child had access),” he further explained.

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READ: BOC relieves Zamboanga school shooter’s father from Customs post

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“Supposed to be, babalikan siya ng driver niya. Siya isasakay. Pero, hindi siya naghatid sa anak niya kahapon (The driver was supposed to come back for him and pick him up. But, he couldn’t be there to bring his son to school yesterday),” he added.

The shooter, a Grade 9 student, wielded two pistols, killing a Grade 10 student at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU) Junior High School on Tuesday morning before turning the guns on himself.

BOC deputy commissioner Nolasco Bathan previously confirmed that one of the two pistols the shooter wielded was his father’s agency-issued firearm and his father’s personal firearm.

Nepomuceno said the shooter’s father had since been relieved from his post pending an investigation into whether there was negligence in his handling and safekeeping of the BOC-issued gun.

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“Maayos na opisyal yun… Maraming accomplishments yan. Well-trained yan (He’s a good official… He has a lot of accomplishments. He’s well-trained),” Nepomuceno maintained.

“Nag-apologize siya sa akin. Tinanggap ko naman yung kanyang paghingi ng pasensya. Subalit, kailangan intindihan niya rin na dapat gawin ko yung trabaho ko (He apologized to me. I accepted his apology. But, he had to understand that I still needed to do my job),” he added. /mr