QC store owner shot dead

A man was gunned down before dawn Saturday as he was closing his small store in a Quezon City neighborhood.

The incident, in a slum community near the Philippine Science High School, also left a bystander, Gerry Comura, 36, injured. Killed was store owner Rico Aranillo, 45, a resident of Agham Road in Barangay (village) Bagong Pag-asa, by at least five men who went to the area on two motorcycles and a Toyota Tamaraw FX around 1 a.m. on Saturday.

Case investigator PO2 Anthony Tejerero said that of the five suspects, only two were believed to be armed. Aranilla was closing his store for the day when a man alighted from the Toyota FX, crossed the street and approached him. The man then shot the victim until he fell down while another man walked toward a group of gamblers and fired at them, hitting Comura who was one of the players.—Julie M. Aurelio