More slugs found in Nicole’s neighborhood

MANILA, Philippines - Police recovered three more slugs from a .45-caliber pistol near where seven-year-old Stephanie Nicole Ella collapsed after being hit by a stray bullet on New Year’s Eve in Caloocan City.

Senior Superintendent Rimas Calixto, city police chief, said the slugs were found in the area where, according to Army reservist Juan Agus, his three friends fired his licensed pistol to greet the New Year.

The latest find brought to 14 the total number of slugs recovered by police near the crime scene.

“The slugs will also be sent to the crime laboratory for cross-matching to determine whether they came from Agus’ gun,” Calixto said.

He said Agus and his three friends, who were merely charged with alarm and scandal by city assistant prosecutor Nida Gravino, were not yet off the hook.

Calixto said a fresh slug would be taken from Agus’ gun for another cross-matching test, as the examination of the first slugs found near the crime scene was only based on the gun’s ballistic file.

He said Agus could have possibly changed the barrel of the weapon before he surrendered it to the police.

Agus and his three friends were picked up for questioning the other day after witnesses told police they fired a gun during the revelry near Nicole’s house on San Lorenzo Street in Barangay Malaria.

But they were immediately cleared after results of ballistic examinations showed that the slug that killed Nicole was different from the slugs taken from Agus’ gun.

Calixto assured the victim’s family that they would not stop their investigation “until justice would be served” as he also welcomed the parallel probe being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“The NBI investigation would help hasten the early resolution of the case,” he said.

As of yesterday, the number of licensed .45-caliber pistols being subjected to cross-matching rose to 45 from 32 last Friday.

Nicole’s father, Aquilino, reiterated his appeal for the immediate arrest of his child’s killer.

“I hope that next time, they would get the right person,” he said, adding Nicole would be buried on Saturday at the Santuario de Paz in Norzagaray, Bulacan.

Nicole was with her family and friends watching fireworks when she was hit by a stray bullet in the head. She died Wednesday afternoon at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, Valenzuela Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian launched a fund-raising campaign yesterday to help raise the bounty for the arrest of the real killer.

Gatchalian, who visited Nicole’s wake on Friday, also opened a Facebook account to heighten public awareness of the case.

He initially donated P200,000 as reward for the killer’s arrest. He turned over the amount to Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima.

Gatchalian said he is targeting to raise P1 million in six months.

“The funds can be returned to the donor if the suspect is not traced or arrested. The donor will have the option to donate it to the family of the victims,” he said.

– Pete Laude, Jose Rodel Clapano