Hunt on for motorist who shot woman’s car

MANILA, Philippines—The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) is now hunting a motorcyclist who claimed to be a cop and fired at a woman’s car in the heat of a traffic altercation on Quezon Avenue Monday night.

The woman was unscathed as the bullets hit her car’s tires.

QCPD director Senior Supt. Richard Albano said they would subject the recovered empty shells to ballistics tests in the hopes of identifying the gunman.

“We are also verifying with the Land Transportation Office the license plate of the motorcycle that the suspect was riding,” the police official said in an interview.

Police recovered three empty shells and one live bullet outside the car, and a deformed slug inside one of the tires.

The man was riding a motorcycle with license plate 7856 when he and motorist Hazel Tarun, 33, figured in a traffic altercation Monday evening on Quezon Avenue.

Citing the complainant’s account, Masambong police station commander Supt. Pedro Sanchez said the man claimed to be a policeman before threatening to kill Tarun, a fitness coach.

The encounter happened on the westbound lane of Quezon Avenue, at the U-turn slot near the Parco Supermarket in Barangay (village) West Triangle.

Tarun came from work at a nearby gym and was driving her Honda City sedan home to Marikina City at that time. Albano said the woman was about to make a U-turn when the left rear side of her car was bumped by the man on the motorcycle.

“The woman then stopped and alighted from her sedan to check the damage,” Albano said, adding that the confrontation between the two turned ugly.

Sanchez said the motorcyclist asked for Tarun’s license, but the victim refused, saying she would hand it over only to a policeman. She also told the man to call the police to investigate the incident.

Instead, the man allegedly told her: “Gusto mo bang mamatay? Pulis ako. (Do you want to die? I’m a policeman.)”

Tarun decided to go back inside her car while the irate man went to his motorcycle and pulled out a gun.

Albano said the man fired his gun three times at the car, hitting the left front and rear tires.