MANILA, Philippines — Finding it difficult to move on from a breakup, a police officer killed his former girlfriend then took his own life in Caloocan City on Tuesday.
Police Officer 1 Danilo Roa, 29, of the Caloocan police community precinct 1, shot himself in the head after killing Lyka Jane Arciaga, 27, an elementary school teacher, in her apartment in Kaunlaran Village in Barangay 22.
Arciaga died from multiple gunshots to the body, probers said.
Authorities said they recovered a magazine loaded with ammunition, a jacket of fired bullets and Roa’s 9mm service firearm at the scene.
According to the policeman’s sister Cristy, Arciaga broke up with Roa because he was not ready to settle down.
Roa wooed Arciaga again but she rejected him, police said.
She filed a complaint for harassment against Roa with the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service and the barangay hall, case investigator PO3 Michael Olpindo said.
“Kung saan ako humantong, isasama kita (Wherever I end up in, I’ll take you with me),” Arciaga’s cousin, Milcon Ruiz, quoted Roa as saying.
Investigation showed that Roa broke into Arciaga’s apartment by destroying the door at around 1 p.m.
He took a photo of Roa in bed with a gun pointed to her head, which she sent to Ruiz through Facebook messenger.
After several hours, residents in the area heard Arciaga shouting for help before gunshots rang out.
The city police’s Special Weapon and Tactics team discovered the bodies of Roa and Arciaga in a pool of blood.
National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Camilo Cascolan, who went to the crime scene, said probers were looking into a love triangle as the possible motive for the deaths.
The love story of Roa and Arciaga started when Cristy found the teacher’s lost GSIS identification card, which she turned over to the policeman.
Roa searched Arciaga’s name on Facebook to return the ID, starting off a meeting that ended with the two falling for each other.