Gunmen after Pasay drug suspect hit boy instead

A seven-year-old boy was wounded by a stray bullet in Pasay City on Monday afternoon when motorbike-riding gunmen fired at a drug suspect seated next to the minor but missed their target. Insp. Romeo Viduya, officer in charge of Central Park police community precinct, said the boy was seated beside Rafael Combe in front of a sari-sari store in Barangay 137 Zone 15 when the assailants arrived at 5:40 p.m.

The gunmen were targeting Combe but missed him after several shots, police said. Combe was able to run toward the New Era Compound as the gunmen also fled. According to the Pasay police, Combe was included in the barangay drug watchlist and could no longer be located in the neighborhood after Monday’s incident.

The boy was treated for a gunshot wound in the arm at Pasay City General Hospital, where he was later declared out of danger. Also in Pasay, a dead man whose head was wrapped in packaging tape was found inside a black plastic box that was initially suspected to contain a bomb early Tuesday.

The box was discovered on Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard by security guard Pedro Sapico who was patrolling the area around 4 a.m., case investigator SPO1 Melvin Garcia said. Policemen from the Mall of Asia police community precinct cordoned off the area for the responding bomb disposal team, who later discovered the body when the box was finally opened some two hours later.

The still-unidentified victim was in a blue shirt and green shorts, and was described to be 40 to 45 years old. He had an “Ace Viray” tattoo on his right shoulder and a “Sputnik Gang” marking on the body. The police initially found no visible injuries.