Security guards figure in shootings

CEBU, Philippines - A security guard shot and killed an alleged leader of a notorious gang inside the Carreta Cemetery in Barangay Carreta last Thursday night.

The fatality was identified as Jeffrey Zuñiga, 19, of Crips gang.

PO3 Geoffrey Gutual of the homicide section said he was drinking with his four friends near the entrance of the cemetery when Zuñiga arrived past 8pm and asked that he be accompanied to the cemetery’s guard house so he could call his girlfriend.

Gutual’s friend Roy Ylaya agreed to accompany Zuñiga, but when they reached the gate, security guard Graciano Sandoval told Zuñiga not to enter or he would be shot.

Zuñiga’s friend Tirso Taneo said he saw Sandoval load his gun. Afterwards, he heard a burst of gunfire and Zuñiga fell to the ground.

Zuñiga was brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, but passed away at the operating room. He sustained a gunshot wound on his stomach.

Gutual himself arrested Sandoval.

Responding policemen recovered Sandoval’s Mitchell High Standard 12-gauge shotgun, five live cartridges, and an empty shell of a bullet of the same firearm. 

Gutual said the Zuñiga, who had the reputation of being a toughie in their area, was already drunk when he approached the gate and did not heed Sandoval’s warning.

A case for murder was filed by the police against Sandoval yesterday.

Meanwhile, another security guard shot a minor he allegedly caught stealing scrap metal from the construction site he was guarding at the Woodcrest Town Homes in Barangay Guadalupe dawn yesterday.

The security guard was identified as Alejandro Lamador, 44, of Archangel Security Agency. The FREEMAN is withholding the name of the victim owing to his minority. He was brought to the Cebu City Medical Center while his companion at that time remains at large.

Lamador said he was at the guardhouse when he heard the noise of metal inside the construction site. When he checked, he found the two minors stealing scrap metal. He then apprehended the two, but the victim allegedly attacked him with a kitchen knife, forcing him to fire his gun. The minor was hit on the leg.

“Wa ko kahibaw nga minor kay nagtaptap man, mata ray nakita,” Lamador told The FREEMAN. (FREEMAN)