Suspected street gang member killed in Manila

MANILA, Philippines—A suspected member of a street gang was shot and killed late Wednesday afternoon by the lone rider of another motorbike over a traffic altercation in Manila.

Benjamin Auste Jr, 27, said to be a member of the Sputnik Gang, of Pasay City, died instantly from a bullet wound in the back while the unidentified shooter, who was on a red Honda TMX motorcycle with no license plate, fled. The victim, who was a passenger on a motorcycle at the time of the shooting, was left dying on the pavement by his riding companion, who sped away.

SPO1 Gerardo Rivera, of the Manila Police District (MPD) Homicide Section, said the shooting happened at the corner of V. Mapa and Old Sta. Mesa Streets in Sta. Mesa, when the two motorcycles stopped for a red light.

Rivera said the riders of the two motorcycles had a traffic altercation.  The argument prompted the rider of the red Honda TMX motorcycle to brandish a pistol.

Auste and his companion, apparently out of fear, tried to escape from the gun-wielding man but the armed man repeatedly fired at them, with one of the bullets hitting Auste in the back. When the victim fell off the motorcycle, his companion continued to speed away and the shooter also fled.

MPD Homicide Section investigators searched nearby hospitals for wounded patients, thinking that Auste’s companion might have been shot, but none of the medical facilities admitted a motorcycle-riding patient with a gunshot wound. Scene of the Crime Office (SOCO) personnel recovered four .45 caliber pistol empty shells at the site of the shooting.