Witness points to Manila cop as suspect in seaman’s slay

For the eyewitness in  the pre-dawn shooting of a seaman over a  traffic altercation, a Manila policeman easily stood out in a room full of other law enforcers at the homicide section of the Manila Police District  (MPD).

When asked if he would be able to identify the suspect in the killing on Wednesday  of Danielo Gray, 34, Jonathan Abante looked around for just a few seconds before he  picked out  SPO3 Vidal Bolaños from the crowd.

Abante told police it was Bolaños, 52, of the  MPD Ermita Station 5 Intramuros detachment, who had shot dead  his friend Gray in the chest on Wednesday at around 2 a.m. in Ermita, Manila.

He said  he was in  Gray’s black Toyota Vios as they were cruising along M.H. del Pilar Street when  Bolaños, who was driving a light-colored Mitsubushi Lancer GLXI, bumped the  rear end of  their vehicle.

Gray and Bolaños alighted from their vehicles to check the damage, Abante said. “They were just arguing.  They exchanged some harsh words. Then Bolaños   got a gun from his car and  shot my friend,” he told the Inquirer.

Gray died  while undergoing treatment at the Philippine General Hospital where he was brought after the incident.

Bolaños refused a request to be interviewed, although MPD homicide section chief Senior Insp. Joselito De Ocampo said that the suspect had admitted to the shooting when he was turned over to them at around 7 p.m. on Thursday  by his immediate superior.

“He (Bolaños) claimed  the seaman punched him and kicked him while he was down, and this  provoked him to get his gun and shoot the victim,” De Ocampo told the Inquirer.

The police officer added that when they asked the suspect for his gun, Bolaños claimed  he had thrown his .45 caliber pistol into Manila Bay before abandoning his car near a market on Libertad Street, Pasay City.

Homicide section personnel retrieved the abandoned car at around 1 am yesterday.

“We were able to  get   the suspect’s identity from the statement of the registered owner of the car who sold the vehicle to him,” De Ocampo revealed.

Bolaños  is now  detained at the homicide section holding cell pending the filing of a murder charge against him in  the City Prosecutor’s Office.