Pasay City policemen arrested Thursday afternoon the security guard of a fast food restaurant who shot and wounded a 34-year-old woman after they argued over her daughter’s use of the establishment’s restroom.
The guard, however, said that he was merely defending himself when he shot Maricel Villegas who, according to him, tried to attack him, along with other street dwellers.
Villegas remains confined at Pasay City General Hospital for a gunshot wound in the right shoulder.
Chief Insp. Joey Goforth, Pasay City Police chief investigator, identified the guard as Haron Kansay, 30, an employee of Global Shield Security Agency who is assigned at a fast food restaurant on F. B. Harrison Street.
According to Goforth, the shooting happened at around 12:30 p.m. Thursday outside the establishment.
Earlier, Villegas’ 12-year-old daughter went to the restaurant to use the toilet. She claimed that as she was leaving, Kansay slapped her on the nape and kicked her in the torso.
The girl, who lives on the street along with her mother, told the Inquirer that Kansay had warned her against using the toilet whenever the fast food restaurant was packed with people.
“He should not have allowed me to enter the restaurant [in the first place]. I was able to use the restroom and I thought it was okay. He did not have to hit me,” she said in Filipino.
She added that when she told her mother about the incident, the latter confronted Kansay.
The two adults argued until Kansay drew his cal. .38 revolver and shot the woman in the shoulder. Bystanders immediately grabbed him while others took the victim to the nearest hospital.
At the police station, Kansay said that he shot the victim in self-defense after she hit him on the shoulder with a lead pipe.
He added that the girl or any of the street dwellers in the area were free to use the restroom as long as the restaurant was not full of people.
Despite his explanations, Kansay remains detained at the Pasay City Police headquarters pending the filing of a charge of frustrated homicide against him with the city prosecutor’s office.