“Friendly fire” killed a cop during a rescue operation in Angeles, Pampanga, the Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed on Monday.

In a press briefing, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said that according to the autopsy by the police forensic grou, Sergeant Nelson Santiago died due to a gunshot wound on his chest.

“According to the autopsy report conducted by the Forensic Group, the cause of Sergeant Santiago’s death was a gunshot wound on the chest, particularly on the left side of his body and his lungs and aorta were affected. His wound was fatal,” Fajardo told reporters.

Fajardo said that based on the ballistics examination and crossmatching, the slugs found on Santiago’s body matched the gun of the patrolman who confessed to accidentally shooting him.

She added that the forensic group also found that the bullet of the Galil 5.56 assault rifle struck Chief Master Sergeant Eden Accad before it hit Santiago.

Fajardo noted that Accad and Santiago were not wearing bullet proof vests during the rescue.

They were both sent to a hospital in Angeles City but only Accad survived, she said.

“There were three of them who entered a dark area. So, a member of the entering team saw that a gun was being pointed and incidentally, he pulled the trigger,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo said they have filed a case of reckless imprudence and serious injury against the patrolman, who is detained by the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG).

The operation on August 3 led to the rescue of two kidnapped Chinese nationals. Jaspearl Tan/DMS