A security guard was killed as he and his three cohorts tried but failed to rob the supermarket in Pasig City he used to work for on Saturday night.
Before he was killed, however, Hernani Lupera shot dead three of his former coworkers as the three other robbers escaped. Another employee was wounded and taken to a hospital for treatment.
The botched robbery took place at Robinsons Supermarket on Ortigas Avenue Extension in Barangay Rosario, Pasig City, shortly after it shut down on Saturday night.
Killed aside from Lupera were two of the establishment’s security guards identified as Frederick Perez, 34; Melanie Belga, 35; and merchandizer Nonie Oñas.
The police did not identify the wounded victim who remained under observation in a Pasig hospital.
Inside job
Senior Supt. Mario Rariza, Pasig City police chief, said the robbery looked like an inside job.
Their initial investigation showed that Lupera, a resident of Silang, Cavite, was formerly assigned at the supermarket by Protect Security Agency.
They also learned that before he was killed, Lupera was working as a security guard at Robinsons Supermarket in Merville, Parañaque City.
“From the looks of it, the suspects seemed like amateurs. But because Lupera knew the ins and outs of the [Pasig supermarket], they easily got inside [the establishment],” Rariza said.
According to Rariza, the police were now going through footage taken by the store’s security cameras to identify the three other robbers who managed to escape.
Initial investigation showed the incident happened at 11 p.m. on Saturday after the supermarket had closed for the day.
Suspects grab opportunity
The four suspects managed to enter the establishment after an employee went out to dispose of some garbage.
One of the robbers, later identified as Lupera, headed straight for the treasury office of the supermarket and, at gunpoint, ordered the employees there to open the vault.
However, one of the other suspects went inside the treasury office and for some still unknown reason, herded them out and left them with Lupera.
As the employees were standing outside the office with Lupera, one of them started screaming although they had been warned not to make any noise.
Hostage kills suspect
At this point, Lupera suddenly started shooting them until his gun jammed. A security officer quickly grabbed the opportunity as he took a blunt object and repeatedly hit Lupera in the head which eventually led to his death.
When the other robbers heard the gunshots, they fled as other supermarket personnel brought their wounded coworkers to the hospital.
Investigators later recovered from the crime scene four shells, a .38-cal. revolver with three bullets and a 9mm pistol with one magazine and six bullets.