Soldier vs soldier: Army man shot dead after argument over flying bottle cap

An Army man was shot dead by another soldier following a dispute over a flying bottle cap inside a restaurant bar in Taguig City on Wednesday.

Private First Class Gerald Niko del Pilar of the Mobile Police Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Support Group died on the spot after he was  shot in the neck around 2 a.m.

One of the suspects, T/Sgt. Gilbert Gella, also of the Philippine Army, gave himself up to authorities, according to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala.

A police report said a heated argument broke out inside the establishment on Bayani Road in Barangay Western Bicutan when a beer bottle cap from the table where Gella and his companions were seated landed on the victim’s table.

The situation, however, was defused by the staff of the restaurant bar.

A statement issued by the Philippine Army said that Gella left the establishment “in his bid to avoid an escalation.”

But as he was about to drive away in his vehicle, the victim ran toward him and tried to stab him with a knife, “instinctively prompting [Gella] to reach for his gun and fatally shoot Del Pilar in the neck.”

The police said it also arrested two other suspects, Sgt. John Necesito of the Light Reaction Regiment—the premier counterterrorist unit of the Philippine Army—and a certain Jepoy Arcilla.

Two other unidentified suspects remain at large.

Zagala said the Philippine Army would conduct its own parallel investigation of the incident.