MANILA, Philippines – A suspected drug runner was gunned down while gambling at a funeral wake in his neighborhood in Quezon City past midnight Friday, police said. A middle-aged woman and a girl were injured in the shooting.
Senior Police Officer 1 Johnny Mahilum, case investigator, said Antonio Garcia, 41, was known in the community as a drug runner, one who delivers drugs to users or buyers, and may have been killed in connection with his alleged illegal activities.
Mahilum said Garcia, a resident of Gomez Street in Barangay (village) Paltok, was seen at the wake on nearby Ilagan Stree with his brother, Aries, playing “cara y cruz (heads or tails),” a game of chance involving the tossing of two coins.
The brothers were about to leave when two men arrived at the wake and let loose a barrage of bullets at Garcia, Mahilum said, citing witness accounts. The wounded Garcia managed to run a few meters but eventually collapsed.
Aries rushed his brother to the St. Agnes Hospital where he died shortly after the 12:45 a.m. shooting, Mahilum said.
Mahilum said Erlyn Agustin, 9, and Marissa Corpuz, 47, both residents of Ilagan Street, were hit by stray bullets from the two unidentified gunmen.
Agustin was grazed in the head while Corpuz was hit in the right arm. Both victims were treated at the Quezon City General Hospital.