Collector killed in robbery inside Q.C. market

MANILA—An administrative officer of a public market in Quezon City was shot in the head as she sat down for breakfast at a food stall inside the market Friday morning and was then robbed of her collections by her two male assailants, police said.

Rosario Tortoles, 52, of Antipolo City, died on the spot from four shots to the back of the head fired by one of the two assailants, investigator PO2 Julius Balbuena said.

He said the victim, an administrative employee of the Commonwealth Market, had just finished collecting money from stall owners renting inside the market when the attack took place.

The assailants took Tortoles’ bag containing an undetermined amount of cash collected from market vendors and stall owners.

The victim, who was accompanied by two other persons, had just sat down to order breakfast at an eatery inside the market around 8:20 a.m. when two men in black jackets approached Tortoles from behind, Balbuena said, citing witness accounts.

He said one of the men then fired successive shots at the back of the woman’s head, killing her instantly.  The assailants then grabbed the victim’s bag and ran away.

Balbuena described one of the men as being 5’8″ to 5’9″ tall and wearing a black helmet to cover his face, while the gunman was 5’6″ to 5’7″ tall, and wore a face mask and sunglasses.

Police suspect that the assailants were armed with caliber .45 pistols, based on the empty shells and slugs found at the crime scene.