Vendor killed, 4 hurt by Pasig traffic enforcer, 2 men

Crime scene investigation. (RADYO INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA — An 18-year-old vendor was shot dead while four others were wounded by a traffic and parking enforcer and two unidentified men in Barangay Pinagbuhatan in Pasig City on Wednesday evening.

Senior Superintendent Orlando Yebra, Jr., Pasig City police chief, said Johair Pontino was about to buy medicine for his allergy around 9 p.m. when Sihawi Hadjibrahim, a member of the Traffic and Parking Management Office assigned at the Pasig Market, and his two companions confronted the victim inside the Christian Muslim compound on Venancio  Caliwag Street.

Yebra said Pontino immediately left the three to seek help from his relatives Macly Pontino, 42; Nasif Karungkin, 45; security guard Jalanie Dimapurong, 32; and Damba Pontino, 42. The five went back to Hadjibrahim’s house.

During the heated altercation, Hadjibrahim and the two men opened fire hitting the victims in different parts of his body, police said. The five victims were rushed to Rizal Medical Center, with the youngest Pontino dying before he could be treated.

The four other wounded are still under observation.

Recovered from the crime scene were nine pieces of fired cartridge and five deformed slugs.

Yebra said the police have been considering the possibility that the killing might be drug-related or a result of an old grudge.

A manhunt operation against the three suspects is ongoing.  SFM