A still-unidentified gunman opened fire on a group of friends having a fiesta celebration in Quezon City on Monday night, leaving two people dead and three others wounded. The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) identified the fatalities as Joharies Cordeta, 23, and a 17-year-old female; and the wounded as Iron Centeno, 20, Ella Mae Buenaventura, 18, and a 15-year-old male. A report to Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, QCPD director, said Cordeta and his group were having drinks and celebrating the fiesta at the corner of San Simon and Santa Maria Streets, Barangay Holy Spirit, around 8:45 p.m. when the assailant started shooting at them. Witnesses said the gunman, who wore a jacket, short pants and ball cap, carried two handguns and fired multiple shots at Cordeta, killing him on the spot. Ramos was hit once in the head and was pronounced dead hours later at General Malvasia Hospital. “We are still investigating the motive behind the attack, if there were fights or disagreements between Cordeta’s circle and other groups in the area,” said Senior Insp. Elmer Monsalve, homicide section chief of the QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit. —Jhesset O. Enano
QC cop faces raps over fatal road accident
A Quezon City policeman is facing charges over the death of a pedestrian whom he hit as he drove his motorbike on Don Mariano Marcos Avenue on Monday night. PO1 Russel Moraña, a beat patroller from the Quezon City Police District’s (QCPD) Batasan station, was on his way to Quirino Highway around 6:50 p.m. when he hit Roberto Lavantes near Jordan Plains Subdivision in Barangay Pasong Putik. The victim was killed on the spot, according to a report at the QCPD Traffic Enforcement Unit. Chief Insp. Aldrin Enrico, QCPD Traffic Sector 2 commander, said the policeman may have been driving very fast and failed to see Lavantes, a caretaker at Jordan Plains Chapel. Moraña, who was also hospitalized for injuries after being thrown off his motorbike, was set to be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. —Jhesset O. Enano