PSG man, helper slain in Tondo

A MEMBER of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and his house helper were shot dead just outside their Tondo residence early Saturday morning, the Manila police said.

Minutes before they were attacked, PO2 Gabriel Gabriel, 29, and his 21-year-old helper Crisanto Giovanni Lozano were seen having a heated argument with three other men in front of a roadside eatery on Moriones Street, according to Senior Insp. Rommel Anicete.

After Gabriel, who was unarmed, managed to put the situation under control, he and Lozano hailed a tricycle to take them home on Coral Street, which is about three blocks away.

They were about to enter their house around 2:30 a.m. when the three men, who had followed them with pistols drawn, started shooting, said Anicete, head of the Manila Police District’s homicide section.

Gabriel tried to run inside to get his gun but was felled by multiple shots to the body, the officer said, quoting eyewitnesses. Lozano was also hit several times.

The two victims were brought to Mary Johnston Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.

A neighbor, 21-year-old Kevin Pascua, was grazed by a stray bullet in his right thigh.

The shooters were last seen fleeing on a motorbike. Anicete said the gunmen were all Tondo residents but withheld their names as the manhunt was still in progress at press time.