Three people were killed and five others were seriously wounded when at least three unidentified gunmen fired upon a group of men having a drinking session in Caloocan City Thursday night.
Caloocan City police chief Superintendent William Macavinta identified the fatalities as Delfin Mahorenos, 64; Alfredo Maglasang, 39; and Arnel Orilla, 24, all residents of Amparo Subdivision in Barangay 179.
Ian Bautista, Ariel Orilla, Ryan Paraon, Reden, Paraon and Eugenio Paraon, who were wounded during the shooting, are now confined at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City. Macavinta said they are now out of danger.
Macavinta said they are eyeing land dispute as the most probable motive in the shooting spree.
“We have information that one of the fatality’s family is engaged in a land row with another family in the area. That’s the main focus of our investigation for now, but we are not disregarding other possible motives,” Macavinta told The STAR.
Their relatives said the victims were involved in a fight two weeks ago.
At around 7:45 p.m., the victims were having a drinking session at a vacant lot on Anahaw Street in Amparo Subdivision when three men armed with rifles and handguns indiscriminately fired upon them.
According to Macavinta, the gunmen escaped immediately after firing at the victims in a white Toyota Revo they parked a few meters away from the crime scene.
He added that while no one was able to jot down the plate number of the get-away vehicle, the survivors of the shooting and some witnesses could identify the gunmen.
Crime scene investigators recovered several empty shells from 9-millimeter and .22 caliber handguns.
“My instruction to Superintendent Diosdado Iniego, the Sub-station 5 commander, which has jurisdiction over the case, is to get the suspects within 72 hours,” Macavinta said.
He said they are waiting for more witnesses to surface at the police station and may publish sketches of the gunmen. – Pete Laude, Jerry Botial