Justice sought for stray bullet victim

POSTERS seeking justice for an 11-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet on New Year’s Eve have been displayed throughout Pulang Lupa Uno in Las Piñas City, as residents condemned the incident and appealed for information leading to the gun owner’s arrest.

Darlene Gutierrez was playing with her friends and watching the fireworks on the third-floor veranda of a neighbor’s house at Block 5, St. Vincent, Mapayapa Village, when she fell to the ground shortly before Friday midnight.

San Vicente Community Associations president Librado Panganiban told the Inquirer that the victim’s playmates and parents initially thought she just lost her balance, fell down the stairs and bumped her head.

It was only when she was examined at the Las Piñas District Hospital that they learned she had been struck with a bullet from a .40-cal. firearm. She died nine hours later.

“This is the first time that such an incident happened in our place in my three terms as the association president. We were shocked [by] what happened because our community is very peaceful,” Panganiban said, adding that the community was composed of just 57 families.

He expressed hope that the posters would lead to justice for Gutierrez, the eldest of four siblings. Those with any information about any person who fired a gun on New Year’s Eve were urged to text the following numbers: 0932-6328357, 0939-1913426, 0917-4199199, 0920-4007176 or 0949-7682304. Maricar B. Brizuela