Former officer held in custody dies from gunshot at Concordia detention centre: authorities investigate how he accessed weapon
A former agent convicted of sexual abuse died at the Concordia detention centre after seizing a police officer's firearm. Authorities have launched a judicial investigation and internal disciplinary proceedings.
Former officer held in custody dies from gunshot at Concordia detention centre: authorities investigate how he accessed weapon
On the night of Monday, 15 June, a former member of the security forces serving a term of preventive detention at the Concordia detention centre died after firing a shot with a regulation pistol he had managed to remove from a police facility. The case prompted a criminal investigation led by the Public Prosecutor's Office and an internal disciplinary proceeding to determine whether custody regulations had been violated.
The deceased was identified as Martín Rebollo, who days before had been found guilty in a public trial for sexual abuse and was awaiting sentencing from the judges. According to Comisario José Rosatelli, head of the Concordia Departmental Police, who explained the situation to Diario Río Uruguay, Rebollo was being held in a cell reserved exclusively for former members of security or military forces, isolated from the rest of the detainees.
The initial reconstruction indicates that the prisoner requested permission to go to the toilet. During that movement, and taking advantage of a lapse in the guards' attention, he entered an office where an officer's equipment was kept, including the officer's firearm. Rebollo seized the pistol, returned to his cell and, despite the guards' efforts to engage him in conversation, the fatal shot was fired.
Immediately afterwards, prosecutor Martín Núñez was notified and specialists from the Scientific Police were called in. Rosatelli clarified that the criminal investigation remained in the hands of the Public Prosecutor's Office, whilst the force simultaneously opened a disciplinary inquiry to verify whether there had been any deviation from established procedures.
As part of both investigations, various items were seized: a mobile telephone, the pistol used, and recordings from more than thirty surveillance cameras. All of this material will be examined to clarify the details of the death.
The comisario ruled out that punishments or transfers for the personnel on duty at the time of the incident had already been determined. He described it as "extremely premature" to impose sanctions before the inquiries were completed. The officers involved continue to perform their functions in the same unit on a provisional basis.
Rosatelli also highlighted that the Concordia detention centre is operating under critical overcrowding. Whilst it previously housed a maximum of between twenty and thirty people, the current number of detainees fluctuates between eighty and one hundred and ten, depending on the day. Since the start of the year, he stated, there has not been a single day on which all cells were not completely full.
Source: Diario Río Uruguay
Source: Google News UY — Crime