Phl shooting team member killed over gun store?

MANILA, Philippines - A member of the country’s practical shooting team could have been killed because of his gun store business, police sources said yesterday.

A source said Michael Lontoc, 30, called up an official of the Firearms and Explosive Division in Camp Crame two weeks ago to discuss the problems he encountered with his gun store business. The FED is closely coordinating with the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) to solve Lontoc’s ambush-slay.

“He could have been killed because he stepped on the shoes of influential people in his gun store business,” said the STAR source.

This developed as four police teams were dispatched yesterday to different places in Metro Manila to catch Lontoc’s killers. NCRPO chief Director Alan Purisima said they already have a motive in the slaying of Lontoc, but he refused to divulge it for fear of jeopardizing follow-up operations.

“Just give us several days and we can have a clear picture of Lontoc’s case,” Purisima told The STAR. “If we are lucky enough, we might also get his killers in a matter of days.”

Purisima said members of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Lontoc are gathering evidence at the shooting range in Malabon where the victim came from before he was waylaid along Pilar Avenue.

SITG operatives have also coordinated with Lontoc’s family with regards to the operation of his gun store in Quezon City. Lontoc was supposed to leave for Greece to represent the country in a shooting competition.

After practicing in the shooting range, Lontoc was on his way home when four men, brandishing an Uzi machine pistol and handguns, opened fire at his Toyota Hilux. Police said Lontoc suffered two gunshot wounds, the bullets piercing his heart.

The victim’s friends rushed him to the Manila Central University Hospital, where he died before he could be operated on. Police said a witness claimed four gunmen approached the vehicle, two on each side, when the victim slowed down to avoid a road repair project.

Lontoc managed to drive his vehicle about 100 meters from where he was shot before he slammed into the concrete fence of the Family Badminton Center.

Witnesses told police the gunmen escaped by boarding a passing passenger jeepney.