‘Guard went on shooting rampage after being linked to P1M theft’

MANILA, Philippines — Fed up by the constant “bullying” by his co-workers and angered by allegations linking him to a P1-million theft, a security guard went on a shooting rampage in Sta. Cruz, Manila, on Thursday afternoon, killing a store manager and wounding two others.

Suspect Fernando Cano, a security guard at the Chain Glass Enterprise, then turned the gun to his head and shot himself.

Cano specifically targeted three people who accused him of involvement in a P1-million theft inside their company last month, Chief Inspector John Guiagui, who was an on-site hostage negotiator, said.

Cano shot his first victim, marketing manager Ricardo Mezina, in the head about 12:30 p.m. Mezina had just finished his cigarette when Cano chased him inside the building and shot him about one meter from the door step.

Then, Cano swiftly walked toward Mark Salas and shot him.

Superintendent Jackson Tuliao, chief of the Manila Police District station 3, said Cano chased and shot another co-worker twice but the latter escaped by hiding inside a restroom on the second floor.

One of the bullets hit Melanie Alejandro in the shoulder instead.

All the victims were rushed to the Chinese General Hospital.

Each time Cano pulled the trigger, he screamed: “I’m innocent.”

These were the same words that Cano shouted before shooting his right temple with his .38 caliber near the second floor’s restroom door.

A total of six spent shells were found inside the building from first to second floor.

The rampage sent his other co-workers screaming and crying. Some hid under their desks, while some escaped by climbing down the second floor window with the use of a ladder. The company owner’s children, meanwhile, locked themselves in their parent’s office.

Outside the building, onlookers gathered along Rizal Avenue from 12:30 p.m. until the police declared the end of the crisis at 2:30 p.m., as if watching an action film. Members of the Special Weapons And Tactics also surrounded the building.

The streets of Pampanga and Laguna were also closed to traffic until policemen discovered that Cano was already dead.

Initially, policemen were unaware of Cano’s death. They had tried to negotiate with him, and even brought his wife Melanie and brother-in-law Ronnel Monares with them.

Chief Supt. Rolando Nana, director of the Manila Police District, said Cano was not responding for two hours. But they couldn’t just assault the building because there were still four people inside, including the owner’s children.

At 2:20 p.m. when the children and remaining employees were successfully removed from the building, the SWAT went in. There, they discovered Cano’s body in a pool of blood with his gun still in his hands.

Guiagui said Cano did not take anyone hostage. He committed suicide right after shooting his last victim.

Police Officer 2 Roosevelt Rendon said Cano had been “bullied” since the theft happened. And some of his co-workers would tell him he was involved in an inside job.

“He served the company for 17 years.  That’s why he couldn’t accept that he’s being blamed, and repeatedly teased by his co-workers, for a crime he did not commit,” said Ronnel Monares, his brother-in-law.

The night before he died, Cano drank beer with Monares and told his only child, a four-year-son to “take care of your mother for me.”

Then, out the blue, Cano sang: “In heaven, there’s no beer.”  SFM