A 17-year-old teenager was shot dead while watching a fair in Tondo, Manila past midnight yesterday, the first tragic incident to mar the raucous three-day fiesta celebration in honor of the miraculous image of the Sto. Niño.
Police identified the victim as Mark Lariza, of 726 P. Herrera st., Tondo. He sustained gunshot wounds in the nape and knee and was declared dead on arrival at the Mary Johnston Hospital.
Investigation showed Lariza, together with several male friends, was watching the shows at a mini fair in front of the Sto. Niño Church along Lorenzo Tiacol street in Tondo when four unidentified men accosted him.
Lariza's companions said they saw one of the suspects draw a gun and shoot twice at the surprised victim. The witnesses said they were so frightened that they scampered away from the scene.
Investigators are now trying to determine the motive for the shooting. Recovered at the scene of the crime was a deformed slug of undetermined caliber.
The Western Police District has deployed additional policemen on the streets to secure Tondo residents from troublemakers.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old construction worker was stabbed dead by a co-worker during a drinking binge at a construction site in Malate, Manila early dawn yesterday.
Police said Roque Aquino, a stay-in worker at a construction site at 1666 Jorge Bocobo st., Malate, sustained multiple stab wounds in the body and also a bashed head. The suspect in the killing, a certain Jorge Alagos, escaped and is now being hunted by the police.