Teen shot in game of Russian roulette

A pawnshop security guard allegedly shot and wounded late Friday night a teenage restaurant employee in a game of Russian roulette in Manila.

Yasser Guimalon, an employee of the Millgos security agency assigned at the M. Lhuillier pawnshop, fled after his alleged game of Russian roulette with 18-year-old dishwasher Jay-R Cayetano, of Mandaluyong City, using his .38 caliber service revolver.

Cayetano remains under observation at the Ospital ng Sta. Ana from a bullet wound in the left side of the body while operatives of the Manila Police District (MPD) have fanned out to search for Guimalon.

MPD Sta. Mesa station 8 commander Supt. Jimmy Tiu told the Inquirer that Guimalon had, instead of training the gun on himself as is customary in Russian roulette, aimed the revolver at the teenager.

Very bad joke

“It may have been a joke between the two men or the security guard may have done that in jest but it was a very bad joke,” Tiu pointed out.

Tiu said the incident happened at around 8:55 p.m., Friday, inside the kitchen of the Tapsibugan restaurant at the Newton Plaza along Old Sta. Mesa Street in Sta. Mesa.

Before the incident, Tiu said, Guimalon—a regular customer—had eaten a meal at the restaurant and for some reason went to the kitchen to see Cayetano.

Left one bullet

While inside the kitchen, Guimalon allegedly drew his service revolver, unloaded the cylinder of five bullets, and left a bullet in one of the chambers.

The security guard then spun the cylinder before allegedly aiming the revolver at the seated teenager and pulling the trigger. The gun did not fire allegedly prompting Guimalon to pull the trigger again.

But this time the revolver fired, the bullet hitting Cayetano in the left side of the body and exiting through his back. Upon realizing what he had done, the guard fled leaving behind his service firearm.

The teenager’s coworkers, who were alarmed by the gunshot and by the security guard’s quick exit, found the wounded Cayetano inside the kitchen and brought him to the nearest hospital. The restaurant employees later turned over the .38 caliber revolver to the police.