Sharpshooter ends hostage drama

A drug addict was shot dead yesterday by a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) sharpshooter when he refused to surrender and release a 12-year-old girl during a two-hour hostage drama in Marikina City.

"It was a judgment call," said Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Marikina City police chief, in defending the SWAT team involved in taking down the suspect, identified only as Garry Boy.

He said his men acted swiftly so as not to suffer the same fate of several Pasay City policemen who were charged in court for bungling a hostage-taking incident at a bus terminal last year.

Rojas said blood was oozing from the chest of the victim, Jennifer Ricarto, a Grade 4 pupil of the San Mateo elementary school, when a SWAT member opened fire. The suspect had two knives, which he kept pressing on the chest of the suspect.

The suspect sustained gunshot wounds in the head and chest and was declared dead on arrival at the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center.

Ricarto had two knife wounds in the chest and was brought to the same hospital for treatment.

Rojas said Garry Boy first entered the house of one Marites Sioco, 31, located in Barangay Sto. Nino, Modesta Village, San Mateo, Rizal at 10 a.m. However, Sioco, a housewife, fought back against the intruder, prompting the suspects to run out of the house.

Ricarto was waiting for a ride to school when the fleeing suspect spotted her. He grabbed the girl and took her hostage.

Witnesses said Ricarto tried to fight back but was easily overpowered by the suspect. He then dragged Ricarto to a waiting shed in Lower Balete street, Parang, Marikina City and pressed the two knives on her chest.

Witnesses immediately called the police.

Rojas immediately dispatched a six-man SWAT team to the area. A reinforcement team from the San Mateo, Rizal also arrived.

Barangay Modesta chairwoman Rebecca Favis arrived later and negotiated for the safe release of Ricarto. But Garry Boy refused to heed her calls.

"The hostage taker appeared to be under the influence of illegal drugs because he was talking incoherently to Chairwoman Favis," Rojas said.

When the hostage-taking incident reached her attention, Marikina City Mayor Maria Lourdes Fernando called up Rojas ordering him to resolve the incident peacefully.

"I was ordered by Mayor Fernando to save the hostage and the hostage taker from possible harm," he said in an interview.

After two hours, Garry Boy demanded that he be brought to the Marikina City police station. However, when a patrol car arrived to pick him up, he refused to get inside.

While thinking about his next move, the suspect kept pressing the knives into the chest of the hostage, who was grimacing in pain.

Two shots were then fired.

Rojas directed his men to rush both suspect and hostage to the hospital.

Police recovered the two knives.

"We didn’t want the Pasay City incident to happen here, so my men acted swiftly and we were able to save the hostage from being killed," Rojas said. However, he refused to name the SWAT member who shot the suspect.

The death of the hostage and hostage taker in the Pasay City drama resulted in the filing of charges against at least 20 policemen, including their police chief.

Elements of the Pasay City police were also ordered to undergo three months of re-training in Subic because of the incident.