A 20-year-old man was shot dead while his mother was wounded trying to protect him from armed men who barged into their home in Tondo, Manila, on Thursday night.
Kiefer Anselmo Mangila died on the spot after being shot five times in the head, neck and right arm, police said.
His mother, Amapola, who was shot in the shoulders and legs, played dead until the assailants had left, said SPO2 Lester Evangelista, the case investigator.
Kiefer and his mother were having dinner around 6 p.m. inside their home along Alvarado Extension, when three masked men in black jackets forced their way in.
A screaming Amapola tried to block them from getting to her son, but they shot her twice before turning to Keifer.
Senior Insp. Rommel Anicete, Manila police homicide chief, said they were looking at a “love triangle” as a motive for the killing.
Mangila was reportedly seeing a 17-year-old woman whose live-in partner is currently jailed in Taguig on drug-related charges.
He recently received a death threat on his phone, believed to be from the woman’s partner, Anicete said.
The text message read: “If you wish to live, you must return (her) things…You don’t know who you’re up against. I already ordered (her) killed, but she disappeared. I have your photo.”
The woman, who also lived in Tondo, had indeed disappeared two days before the attack on Mangila, Evangelista said.