Officer pleads not guilty to firearm storage charges

The police officer whose service firearm was allegedly used in the Kagman shooting that saw a minor being shot in the face has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him.

During his arraignment last Monday, Department of Public Safety officer Raymond L. Saralu pleaded not guilty to the six counts of storage of firearm charges filed against him after multiple guns were allegedly found in his residence and his service-issued firearm was allegedly involved in the Kagman shooting that left a 7-year-old severely injured.

Aside from the firearm storage charges, Saralu also pleaded not guilty to one count of obstructing justice in connection with the allegation that he tampered with the crime scene.

According to court documents, the evidence found at the scene may have been tampered with as the gun that was allegedly determined to have been used in the shooting was found in a laundry basket and covered with clothes while another gun was found on the floor near the 7-year-old who had been shot.

According to the complaint, DPS dispatch received a call from Saralu, who was off-duty at the time, at around 9:06pm last May 21, asking that an ambulance be sent to his residence.

When first responders arrived, they found a 7-year-old boy lying in a pool of blood. He was rushed to the Commonwealth Health Center but was later transported to Guam Memorial Hospital for surgery.

Although he is recovering, the boy has reportedly lost vision in his left eye and has lost muscle control on one side of his face.

Court documents state that the boy allegedly told his mother while in the ambulance that his minor uncle took a gun from Saralu’s work belt, which was on a chair in his bedroom. When the victim took the gun to give it back to Saralu, the gun went off on his face. The boy reiterated this statement in a follow up interview on June 14.

At Saralu’s residence, officers stated that they found eight unsecured firearms, one near the boy, and Saralu’s service firearm, which was in its holster inside a basket covered with clothes.

Police noted that several of the firearms found were in an unfinished closet that had no doors nor plywood shelving, with no trigger locks and were not inside a safe.

When police asked him, Saralu said he did not have a safe yet.

It was only recently determined that Saralu’s service firearm was the one used in the accidental shooting after a ballistics test was ran on three of the eight firearms that were found in the home.

Guma Hustisia