Police informant shot dead in front of friend

A suspected hired gun killed on Monday evening a woman who was said to be a police informant while she was chatting with a friend in Manila.

Witnesses said the man shot Lourdes Mallari, 44, once in the head with a .45 cal. pistol and then escaped.

The victim, a resident of Barrio Kapampangan in Paco, was taken to Sta. Ana Hospital where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

PO3 Alonzo Layugan of the Manila Police District homicide section said the shooting took place at around 6:40 p.m. inside a sari-sari (retail) store on Interior 4A, Barrio Santa Maria, also in Paco.

He added that before she was killed, Mallari had dropped by to visit her friend who owned the store.

As the two were talking, a man approached them, took out a gun and shot the victim in the head. He then hopped on a motorcycle and drove away.

Layugan said the gunman appeared to be a professional killer as he fired only one bullet at the victim’s head as if to ensure her death.

He added that they were looking into the possibility that the victim was killed because she was a police asset.