CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 24-year-old man, who took hostage a vendor and her mother, was shot and wounded by responding police officers in Barangay Ermita in this city before dawn yesterday.
Edsan Rafols was rushed to the hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound in the shoulder before he was taken to the police station for questioning.
Reports said that Rafols, armed with a bladed weapon, barged into a store along Escaño street at around 2 a.m. and took hostage its owner Rowena Mae Dinopol, 21, and her bedridden mother Conchita.
Rafols threatened to kill the women every time someone approached the store, according to Maj. Kenneth Albotra, chief of the city police.
Responding police officers tried but failed to persuade Rafols to surrender.
A member of the special weapons and tactics team shot Rafols after he threatened to stab the hostages. – /The Freeman