Stall helper shot dead, 5 others wounded in Marikina robbery

Two armed men shot dead a 17-year-old stall helper and wounded five others, two of them seriously, during a robbery in Marikina City Saturday night.

Senior Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan, Marikina City police chief, said the attackers of Daisy Larisan, a helper at a meat stall at the NGI market in Barangay Parang, were already identified.

"We are now closing in on them," said Gaerlan, who refused to reveal the suspects’ identities so as not to jeopardize ongoing follow-up operations.

Larisan sustained a gunshot wound in the chest and died while being rushed to the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.

Her employer, Archie Gabiya, 33, was shot in the left chest and right thigh while a fellow helper, Neri Padadera, 23, was wounded in the right chest. Both are now in critical condition at the same hospital.

Gaerlan said Gabiya closed his meat shop at the NGI market at around 8:50 p.m on Saturday and was driving home in Isuzu Elf, with license plate XTB 482, to Greenland Subdivision in nearby Barangay Nangka when he saw two men fighting in the middle of a dimly-lit street, prompting him to step on the brakes.

To Gabiya’s surprise, the two men suddenly took out their handguns and at gunpoint grabbed Gabiya’s black bag containing his day’s earnings. After taking the money, the suspects opened fire at the victims, said PO3 Glen Aculana.

The suspects were about to leave when a red Honda CRV appeared from a street curve.

Thinking that the occupants were the companions of Gabiya, the suspects opened fired at the vehicle, hitting Raymond Nocun, 23, in the left shoulder; Ray Ann Soriano, in the left thigh, and Mario Labonete, 21, in the left leg. The three, all residents of M.H. del Pilar, Rodriguez, Rizal, were brought to the Garcia Hospital for treatment.

The suspects comman-deered a passing tricycle and fled towards an unknown direction.

Gaerlan said his men recovered two empty shells from a caliber .45 automatic pistol and a slug and nine empty shells from a 9mm pistol at the crime scene. — Non Alquitran