‘Air soft’ gunmen strike in San Juan

Police are now tracking down a group of rich kids who used air soft rifles to terrorize commuters and bystanders along major thoroughfares in San Juan yesterday.

San Juan police chief Superintendent Rodelio Jocson said a couple was injured when four Filipino-Chinese teenagers "rode shotgun" and struck twice in separate areas of the municipality.

"It appears that these boys just wanted to have fun and did it for kicks. However, people were hurt so we have to find them so appropriate charges can be filed," Jocson said.

He said the suspects used a dark colored van. Witnesses have provided them with a license plate number.

The police chief said the first incident took place at 2 a.m. while Pedro Fernandez, 62, a jeepney driver and his wife were sleeping inside a passenger jeepney parked along N. Domingo street.

The boys shot the couple with air soft guns, described as electric powered replicas of high-powered rifles.

Fernandez was hit in the face and body by plastic pellets while his wife was hit in the chest. The couple, residents of Old Sta. Mesa in Manila, are now being treated at the Quirino Memorial Hospital in Quezon City.

Some 30 minutes later, the teenagers, some of them wearing ski masks, fired more than a hundred rounds at bystanders in front a food house along Connecticut street in Greenhills. Nobody was hurt.

Jocson said his men, who were still investigating the attack on the couple, rushed to Greenhills, but failed to intercept the suspects.

The police chief said they are now in the process of identifying the suspects.

The Filipino air soft community has condemned the actions of individuals involved in the attack.

A report of the incident and descriptions of the perpetrators have also been flashed on their websites.