Report shows exchange of gunfire in Jaworski-Yap incident

The car of Ryan Jaworski sustained nine bullets holes, two of them fired from inside the vehicle as a result of a shootout with the camp of 14-year-old Anjelo Elton Yap at the parking lot of a reastaurant in Mandaluyong City last June 21, a police report said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Yap’s maroon Honda CRV, with license plate XXX-918, has five bullet holes, a separate SOCO report said.

The findings of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) of the Eastern Police District (EPD) also showed that not a single slug or empty shell was recovered inside Jaworski’s black Nissan Patrol car with license plate 7*R1.

Superintendent Ericson Velasquez, Mandaluyong City police chief, said the SOCO report bolstered their claim that there was an exchange of gunfire at the parking lot of the Saisaki restaurant located along Florida St., East Greenhills.

"Our big problem right now is determining who are those persons who fired shots at each other," Velasquez told The Star.

The Mandaluyong City police had filed charges of illegal discharge of firearms, damage to property and grave threats against Jaworski and Yap, the main protagonists in the 10-minute gunfight. Also named respondents were Jaworski’s brother, Ron and Yap’s elder brother, Mark Anthony.

The camps of Yap and Jaworski accused each other of starting the gunfight. But both camps claimed they were unarmed at the time.

A week after the shootout, SOCO operatives led by Senior Inspector Lourdeliz Gural Cejes conducted a laboratory examination of Jaworski’s car in his home at the Corinthian Gardens in Quezon City.

In her two-page report, the SOCO recorded "entrance holes" in the rear window, left passenger window, driver’s door, lower and center portion of the vehicle’s grill, left side mirror and left portion of the car’s chassis. Meanwhile, two "exit holes" were found outside the driver’s door and at the rear window. Police strongly believe that the bullets fired from inside the vehicle caused the exit holes.

Aside from the bullet holes, the vehicle also sustained a 20-mm skid marks at the driver’s side roof.

The SOCO report concluded that the holes on Jaworski’s car were caused by bullets fired at different locations and directions.

On the other hand, a macro-physical examination conducted on Yap’s car revealed two bullet holes on the right side of the windshield and three other entrance holes on the left side. A fracture mark was also noticed at the right portion of the windshield.

The SOCO concluded thast the holes in the windshield were caused by bullets fired at a perpendicular direction while the fracture was from a bullet that hit the right portion of the vehicle.

Velasquez vowed to continue its investigation to "ferret out the truth" in the shootout. Velasquez also refused to say whether Ryan’s car was owned by his father, former senator Robert Jaworski, since its license plate was a number 7. "It’s up to the LTO (Land Transportation Office) to determine that," he said. — Non Alquitran