Police, health department dispute source of comatose girl’s gunshot wound

January 3, 2017

As a 15-year-old girl remained in a coma at a public hospital, police and the health department tangled over the source of her gunshot wound.

The National Capital Region Police Officer removed her from the list of stray bullet victims and labeled her case as a shooting incident.

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial told reporters on Monday the girl was a stray bullet victim “because of the trajectory of the gunshot wound.” “We are still categorizing it as a stray bullet from indiscriminate firing.”

Ubial said they would take back their pronouncement once the circumstances of the case has been confirmed “ that the bullet really came from the gun of the suspect.”

In an interview at ANC’s Headstart, Ubial said “ the bullet hit the child on the head at the trajectory of a stray bullet, vertical.

Police Deputy Director General Ramon Apolinario reiterated the statement of Senior Superintendent Roberto Fajardo, northern police chief, it was a shooting incident.

Apolinario " assured the family the PNP is doing its best to give justice to her." The girl, the eldest child of fish vendors, was found unconscious in Barangay San Agustin, Malabon on New Year’s Eve.

Doctors at the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital said she remains in a”deep coma”. The health department called on Filipinos to pray for her as she “needs a miracle” to survive. DMS