ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — A man believed to be high on drugs hacked and wounded his aunt Tuesday morning then took his two teenaged sons hostage to keep the police at bay.
Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, Zamboanga City police director, said the hostage crisis started 7 a.m. at Mangal Drive in Barangay Baliwasan here when an apparently distraught Nur Alvarez Sakiram hacked his aunt, Sarah Alvarez, with a machete.
“The suspect is high on drugs and there are domestic issues between him and his wife, who is abroad,” Casimiro told the Inquirer.
Casimiro said that after critically wounding his aunt, Alvarez grabbed his two sons, aged 15 and 16, and used them to prevent the police from coming near him.
The hostage crisis was continuing as of early Tuesday afternoon, he said.
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