QC Cops kill man linked to ‘stray bullet’ case

A man who was considered a person of interest in a stray-bullet incident that injured a teenager on New Year’s Eve was killed Monday afternoon in an “encounter ” with members of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

Before the killing of Harold Moises, members of the QCPD’s Batasan station received a tip that he allegedly fired his gun during the Dec. 31 revelry in Barangay Batasan Hills.

A report to QCPD director, Chief Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, said the officers who went looking for Moises around 4:30 p.m. Monday saw him with a handgun protruding from his waistband—and that he shot it out with the policemen.

Moises was later declared dead on arrival at East Avenue Medical Center.

The QCPD said a loaded Armscor .45-caliber pistol with no serial number was recovered from Moises, along with three sachets of suspected “shabu,” which were found in his pocket when he was brought to the hospital.

Teen victim

The QCPD spokesperson, Chief Insp. Titoy Jay Cuden, said Moises was being investigated as a person of interest in the stray bullet incident that wounded 17-year-old Leo Mark Aquino as he was watching a fireworks display near his house.

Aquino was in stable condition and awaiting surgery as of Tuesday to have the bullet removed.

Cuden also said the Batasan police had also questioned Jaime Fabua, 49, reportedly a civilian agent of the Military Intelligence Group. Fabua was charged with illegal possession of firearms after it was found that his license to carry arms had expired.

“We have yet to find out if the bullet from the victim’s shoulder will match the bullet from Fabua or Moises’ firearm,” Cuden said.

Aside from the incident in Batasan, there was another case of indiscriminate firing in the city between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, Eleazar said.

Around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, a .45-caliber bullet pierced the ceiling of a house on K-4th Street, Barangay Kamuning, just as its residents were having their media noche. There were no reported injuries.