MANILA, Philippines — A young man under the influence of illegal drugs assaulted his mother and even held his kin hostage on Monday morning in Quezon City.
Jerry Lo, 22, was still clutching a baby girl when policemen pounced on him inside the house of a relative in Barangay (village) Sta. Teresita.
Save for Lo’s mother who was stabbed several times, three other victims were rescued safely, said Supt. Osmundo de Guzman, the La Loma police station commander.
The suspect will be charged with frustrated parricide, frustrated homicide, child abuse, and alarm and scandal.
The four-hour drama began at around 5:30 a.m. at a house on Halcon II Street where Lo’s relatives lived.
Lo and his mother, Luzviminda, resided on nearby Simoun Street and decided to pay their kin a visit that day.
For still unknown reasons, the young man suddenly lashed out at his mother and stabbed her in the chest.
Other relatives rushed her to the Sta. Teresita Hospital, leaving behind Lo with an eight-month-old baby girl, a cousin known as “Bornok,” an aunt and another female cousin.
It was at this point that Lo took his relatives hostage inside the house, using at least five bladed weapons to threaten them.
The weapons included two knives, which the suspect alternately used against the baby girl, and a bloodied cleaver.
The suspect attacked Bornok, stabbing him in the leg with the cleaver, prompting the aunt to barricade themselves in a room to protect themselves from the suspect.
However, Lo managed to seize the baby girl, whose parents were not around.
According to De Guzman, the suspect did not demand for anything, save for a cigarette and some water.
He did not say why he attacked his mother and relatives, although police said he was high on drugs.
Policemen managed to convince Lo to get out of the house on the pretext that his father was on the phone.
Upon reaching the gate, the suspect was subdued by armed lawmen.
The wounded cousin was rescued but already pale from loss of blood when he was brought to the hospital, while the baby girl was unharmed.
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