Man shoots wife but hits 3 neighbors

It was a bloody Christmas for a mother and her two children, one a one-year-old girl, after they were hit by stray bullets fired by their neighbor yesterday morning in Caloocan City.

Rosie Guinacaran, 30, her children Rosalie, 1, and Joey, 5, residents of 66 Libis Talisay, Caloocan, all bore gunshot wounds. Rosalie is now in critical condition at the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital after sustaining a bullet wound in her stomach.

The suspect, neighbor and godfather of Rosalie and Joey, was identified as Dante Bibania, 29. He is now the subject of a police manhunt.

Reports showed that the incident took place at about 3 a.m. while the victims were sleeping in their house.

Bibania, who had been drinking with some friends in his home, had a heated argument with his wife, Hazel. The suspect then took out a homemade shotgun and aimed it at her.

He fired at his wife but missed, the shotgun pellets piercing through the roof of the victims’ house. Rosie said she heard the gunshots but did not mind it until she and her children suddenly felt extreme pains in their bodies.

Rosie and Joey were hit in their thighs, but Rosalie was seriously hurt after a pellet struck her in her stomach and exited through her arm.

Rosie’s husband Gregorio immediately took them to the hospital, while the suspect escaped right after the shooting.

Despite it all, the victims showed no ill-feelings against Bibania. Rosie said she believes the suspect, whom they regarded as a "good friend," never intended any harm.

Nonetheless, they called for his surrender. While Rosie and son Joey have been released from the hospital, the pellets have yet to be taken out of their bodies. – Matthew Estabillo