Mayor Alfredo Lim
A police official tasked to look into a shooting is now also being probed for possible lapses committed by his men in their investigation.
In a statement, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said that he had ordered Supt. Roderick Mariano of the Manila Police District’s Station 7 to explain why his team failed to perform a paraffin test on Mark Luartes, 18, who was accused of shooting Jonathan Manabat, 21.
Based on police records, Luartes was arrested by the police official’s men hours after he reportedly shot and wounded the victim in the face at dawn on Feb. 20.
Luartes’ parents had complained to Lim that their son was arrested even though there was no evidence that he was one behind the shooting.
They also told Lim that the policemen failed to subject their son to a paraffin test.
They also did not find the gun he supposedly had used in the shooting, they claimed.
Luartes, meanwhile, said that he was asleep when the shooting took place.
The police, on the other hand, insisted that Luartes was arrested after the victim positively identified him as the one who shot him.
“The victim and a witness who is a minor positively identified the suspect as the one who shot and wounded the victim on Feb. 20,” Mariano said.
He added that the victim and the accused were members of two rival gangs who were involved in a fight for territory. Both are residents of Tondo, Manila.