UP student killed by cops tested positive for gunpowder nitrates
Senior Superintendent Ligaya Sim, PNP Crime Laboratory deputy director for Administration, said that based on the paraffin examination, gunpowder nitrates were found in the hands of Arnaiz, which indicated that the 19-year-old student fired a gun.
Arnaiz was killed after he allegedly fired at the police officers who tried to arrest him for allegedly robbing a taxi driver along C-3 road in Caloocan City.
According to the incident report, Police Officers 1 Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita of Caloocan City Police Community Precinct 2 said they had asked the Tomas Bagcal, the taxi driver who acted as complainant, to identify the suspect after they searched the area.
Authorities claimed Arnaiz, who resisted arrest, allegedly fired at the police officers prompting them to retaliate.
Police said they recovered shabu, marijuana leaves and the taxi driver's wallet in Arnaiz's p ossessi on .
The teenager who lives in Cainta, Rizal was found by his parents in a funeral home in Caloocan City, 10 days after he was killed.
His parents, however, said they could not believe Arnaiz could do what the taxi driver and the policemen are accusing him of.
Autopsy report of the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) showed Arnaiz sustained five gunshot wounds, handcuff marks, abrasions in his back and legs, which indicated that he was dragged, and swollen eyes.
PAO forensic consultant Dr. Erwin Erfe said that the report of the police is "too far" from their findings of what really happened based on their forensic analysis.
Erfe said Arnaiz's killing was intentional as the trajectory of the bullets was to the victim's chest, targeting his vital organs.
Five bullets entered the victim's body, three of which were found in his chest, said Erfe.
Erfe added that the victim was tortured before he was killed.
"Mukhang nakaluhod po siya nang siya ay unang binaril, dalawa hanggang tatlong beses. At nang nakahiga ay may dalawa pang putok, sa dibdib tumama iyon," he said.
(It appeared that the victim was kneeling when he was shot two to three times. Two to three more shots were fired while the victim was lying down, hitting the chest)
Meanwhile, Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes confirmed Tuesday that the parents of Arnaiz have been placed under the Department of Justice's Witness Protection Program ( WPP) .
Balmes said Arnaiz's parents, Carlito and Eva, will be provided provisional coverage of the WPP as ordered by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Internal Affairs Office are already investigating the incident which took place two days after the killing of Kian Loyd Delos Santos, in an anti-drug sweep, also in Caloocan City.