The .45 caliber pistol reportedly used by Jason Ivler when he shot it out with arresting officers last Monday was the same gun used in the fatal shooting of Renato Victor Ebarle Jr. during a road altercation in November, the National Bureau of Investigation said Friday.

NBI Director Nestor Mantaring released the result of comparative ballistic examinations on bullet slugs from the Ebarde killing and the handgun Ivler allegedly used when he opened fire at agents trying to arrest him in his house at 23 Hillside Drive in Blue Ridge A Subd., Quezon City.

“Reports from the NBI Firearms Investigation Division revealed that one bullet found from the body of Ebarle Jr., a bullet retrieved from the Toyota Land Cruiser of the victim and a bullet found at the residence of Ivler matched those of the test bullets from the Kimber .45 caliber pistol with SN MJ59102,” said Mantaring.

“Said firearm was recovered from Jason Aguilar Ivler during an encounter with the NBI agents,” the NBI chief added.

Mantaring said both the .45 caliber pistol and the M16 rifle recovered from Ivler last January 18 were unlicensed.

Deputy Director for Technical Services lawyer Reynaldo Esmeralda said ballistic examination results also revealed that Ivler fired both guns at the NBI agents sent to arrest him.

“This will be additional evidence. But the investigation continues. We will still evaluate the actions of British diplomat Stephen Pollard before and during the service of warrant,” he said.

Mantaring said that after his discharge from the hospital, Ivler will be detained at the bureau jail where Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is also being held. He said Ivler will be treated as an ordinary inmate.

“We only have one NBI jail. We don’t have any other detention facility. So definitely, he will be detained at the NBI jail after his discharge from the hospital,” said Mantaring.

The NBI director said Ampatuan Jr., the suspected mastermind in the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao that killed 57 people, is the only other high profile subject detained at the NBI.

Ivler is confined at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center after he was wounded when he shot it out with the NBI, in the process wounding two government agents.

Ivler, an American citizen, is the main suspect in the killing of Ebarle, son of Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr. from the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff. He went into hiding since, and his mother, Marlene Aguilar, earlier claimed he had left the country.

Meanwhile, the Quezon City Police District said it has initiated an investigation to determine probable lapses in its manhunt against Ivler.

QCPD Director Chief Supt. Elmo San Diego said 37 members of Task Force Ivler will undergo retraining following their failure to capture the suspect, which the NBI was able to do.

“We will not tolerate lapses or inefficiency in our command and will speedily weed out without regret, regardless of rank or position, all those who fail to come up with the high standards of the QCPD which has been the best police district for the past three years,” he stated. (With a report from Jeffrey G. Damicog)