- officers emerged onto the patio they shook hands.” He said that he could not say for sure if "the last shot was fired by Policeman Valencia." However, he said that "Policeman Valencia did not fire any shots from inside the bedroom; on the contrary, the shots were fired by Lieutenant Cabezas and Lieutenant Piedra.” César Gonzalo Sánchez Salcán 40, aged 17, who was playing at the tennis club, said that "they told [the policemen] that [Mr. Valencia] had gone into a room and then we heard some shots and the policemen told us to hide, so we threw ourselves to the ground. After quite a while a policeman came out and announced that ... the policeman who had gone into the room was dead.” He said that he heard "about four or five shots but did not know who was shooting.” - Hernán Cabezas Gallegos41 said that Mr. Valencia replied to them from inside the security guard's quarters that "we would never take him alive and he fired some shots from inside.” He said that "after hearing a shot inside" they waited "for a few minutes" and heard "no response, so they ... shouted to him.” Then, he, together with second Lieutenant Piedra and Captain Patricio Ramirez, went into the bedroom where Mr. Valencia was dead. - Luis Piedra Meza42 said that Mr. Valencia told them that if they approached “he would kill [them] and then the only way they would get him out of there would be if he was dead.” He stated that "after hearing the last shots [they] proceeded to wait for a while, after which Captain Patricio Ramírez, Lieutenant Hernán Cabezas Gallegos, and [he] proceeded to go into the security guard's quarters together, at the same time, where we saw that the Policeman had committed suicide.” 69. With respect to the declarations of Mr. Luis Alcivides Valdiviezo to the effect that Mr. Piedra Meza had gone “straight into the room where the dead policeman was hiding, whereupon two shots were heard and that subsequently his fellow officers had gone in,” the policeman Piedra Meza said that “[he did] not know Mr. Valdiviezo and that […] At no point had he entered alone and that he did so at the same time as Captain Ramírez and Lieutenant Cabezas. With respect to whether he had shaken Lieutenant Cabezas “as a sign of victory," he said that such accusations were "slanderous." Mr. Hernan Cabezas said that at no moment had there been any “congratulations" about Mr. Valencia's death. 43 70. Police Corporal Manuel Mesías Pillajo Castro44 said that while he was “out on traffic duty” he heard over the patrol car's radio that a policeman had been killed, so he drove over there "purely out of curiosity" and stated that the corpse "was lying face down and there was a bloodstain on the floor, but [he] was unable to see the face.” Later, when asked if he actually saw the corpse as it appears in the photographs or if he saw it lying face down, he said that "because of the time that ha[d] passed, [he could] not recall what position it was in; however, [he] should point out that [he] did not see its face.” 71. For his part, National Policeman Luis Alfredo Verdezoto Rodríguez 45, who had been violently dispossessed of his rifle by Mr. Cabezas, said that he stayed at the station and that hours later he asked Second Lieutenant Cabezas about his rifle "and learned that the weapon had been fired" and that it was 40 Appendix 14. Testimony of César Gonzalo Sánchez Salcán. June (day illegible), 1994. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011. 41 Appendix 6. Testimonies of Hernán Cabezas Gallegos. March 9, 1993, and December 20, 1993. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011. 42 Appendix 7. Testimony of Luis Piedra Meza. August 11, 1993, and Additional Testimony of Luis Piedra Meza, December 20, 1996. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011. 43 Appendix 7. Additional testimony of Luis Piedra Meza. August 11, 1993, and Additional Testimony of Luis Piedra Meza, December 20, 1996. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011. 44 Appendix 15. Testimony of Manuel Mesías Pillajo Castro, January 24, 1994. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011. Appendix 16. Statement of Luis Alfredo Verdezoto Rodríguez, January 24, 1994. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011. Appendix 5 (ex Appendix 7). Police report of Luis Alfredo Verdezoto Rodriguez. Appendix to the State’s communication of February 7, 2011, received at the IACHR on February 14, 2011. 45