P100,000 reward for stray bullet suspect in Abra

MANILA, Philippines—A reward of P100,000 has been offered for information that could lead to the arrest of the person who fired a gun and hit an 11-year-old girl in Abra province on January 1.

A stray bullet hit Jercy Decym Tabaday in the head at about 12:20 a.m. in Barangay (village) Bumagcat, Tayum town.

She was rushed to the Abra Provincial Hospital in Bangued town but was declared dead by doctors at 3:30 a.m.

Tabaday was a Grade 4 pupil at the Bumagcat Elementary School.

A local anticrime group offered the P100,000 reward.

According to a police report from the Cordillera Administrative Region, the firearms of policemen of the Tayum police station are now subject to inspection and investigation.

This developed after a .45-caliber slug was removed from the girl’s head. The slug has been turned over to the Abra Provincial Crime Laboratory.

Through the bullet, using the PNP’s integrated ballistics identification system, police can trace the owner of the gun from which it was fired.

However, the police database only covers licensed firearms.

Police Regional Office Cordillera “will exert all efforts and legal means to bring justice to the victim,” the report said.

Shortly after a bullet struck Tabaday, a 13-year-old boy was also hit in the arm in Barangay San Ramon West in Manabo town, also in Abra.

The boy survived the incident.

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