Cops sue New Year ‘shooter’ who missed watchman, hit girl

The Malabon City police on Tuesday filed criminal complaints against the man who allegedly fired a gun on New Year’s Eve and sent 15-year-old Emilyn Villanueva into a coma.

Senior Supt. John Chua, the city police chief, said investigators recommended the filing of charges for attempted murder and reckless imprudence resulting in serious physical injuries against Renato Sy Jr., alias “Toti.”

Chua maintained that Villanueva was not a victim of indiscriminate firing.

The bullet that hit the minor, Chua said, was intended for Patricio Muñoz, a watchman in Barangay San Agustin who was being chased by Sy that night.

“Villanueva was texting, her head slightly bowed down, that’s why the bullet pierced the top of her head,” Chua said in an interview at his office.

The Department of Health and Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center earlier said they believe a stray bullet hit Villanueva. “We think it’s a stray bullet because it came from above,” said Emmanuel Montaña, director of JRMMC, where the girl remained confined.

Chua said Muñoz was in Biacom, Malabon, about 400 meters away from where Villanueva was watching a fireworks display with her cousin, when the suspect fired at him.

“We found out that the place was slightly elevated from where Villanueva was,” Chua said.

Muñoz and Sy used to be neighbors before the latter left their area on Magsaysay Street, the official added.

Sy wanted to kill Muñoz over suspicions that the village watchman had been reporting his “illegal activities” to authorities, Chua added.

But the city police chief declined to say what those activities were and suggested that Muñoz be interviewed for that information.

Sy remained at large as the complaints against him were filed in the city prosecutor’s office.

Amid conflicting versions of the New Year’s Eve incident, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) stepped in and initiated a parallel investigation on Tuesday.

“The police said the girl was texting that’s why the bullet hit the top of her head. We’ll ask our ballistics division to look into that,” said Melanio Gatchalian, a special investigator from NBI’s Death Investigation Division.