Elderly man, mistaken for a foe in gang war, shot dead

MANILA, Philippines—Craving for caffeine during the witching hour proved fatal on Tuesday for a sexagenarian, who was gunned down after he was apparently mistaken by two young men who mistook him for a foe in Manila.

Four other persons, including a 17-year-old boy and a woman, were wounded in the attack after shot gun pellets fired by the shooters at the 65-year-old man hit them.

Alfredo Pingol Sr., a resident of 4 Magsaysay Street in Tondo, was declared dead on arrival by attending doctors at the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Hospital from gunshot wounds in the chest and in the abdomen.

His teenage neighbor, whose name is withheld on account of his minor age, as well as his housemates, Jana Panilagan (27), Jun-Jun Fermejo (22), and Joselito Baalsa (37), were treated for pellet wounds at the same hospital and were discharged from the medical facility after treatment.

The two suspected shooters, identified as an Axell Solomon, of Rawis Street in Tondo, and a man known only by his alias “Makoy,” fled after the assault and are subjects of a police hunt.

SPO2 Edgardo Ko, of the Manila Police District (MPD) homicide section, said that the shooting happened at around 3:10 a.m., on Tuesday, at the corner of Magsaysay and Chesa Streets, Barangay 120 Zone 9, in Tondo.

Ko revealed that several hours before the killing, a turf war between teenagers residing along Magsaysay and Rawis Streets broke out in the area. The combatants, including Solomon and Makoy, were pacified by responding village watchmen who separated the groups and sent them back to their respective homes.

However, at around 3 a.m., the 65-year-old Pingol decided to go out to buy a cup of coffee from a nearby store. Unknown to him, the case investigator said, Solomon and Makoy had been waiting at the street corner.

Apparently mistaking the sexagenarian for one of their foes in the previous melee, the duo started firing at Pingol with a sumpak (improvised shotgun), hitting him twice in the body. The burst of pellets likewise struck the sexagenarian’s neighbor and housemates who were staying outside their homes at the time.

As Pingol keeled over, bloodied, the shooters fled. He and the other casualties were brought by their neighbors to the nearest hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds.

The body was brought to the Sol funeral homes for autopsy and safekeeping while MPD homicide section operatives conduct follow-up operations for the suspects’ arrest.