A man who reportedly attacked three family members, including a baby boy, was shot dead by a responding policeman in the family’s residential unit in Binondo, Manila yesterday morning.
Arvin Tan, 39, died at the Metropolitan Hospital while undergoing treatment for a bullet that entered through his chin.
Also rushed to the same hospital were seven-month-old Mark Christian Rosete, who sustained a hack wound in the nape; his mother, Cindy Tan, 17, for a hack wound on the head; and housemaid Irene Pelaez, 30, who was hacked in the right shoulder. They were declared out of danger by attending physicians.
According to Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut, Pelaez noticed Tan, Cindy’s uncle, walking aimlessly in their room at the fifth floor of the Neco Building along T. Pinpin street at around 8 a.m.
Pelaez said she told Cindy about her observation, but was ignored. The police said the two women later saw Tan holding two butcher knives and going straight for the sleeping baby. The women shouted for help when they saw Tan hack the baby, but Tan turned and started hacking them. Though wounded, Pelaez managed to rush out of the room and seek the assistance of building janitor Rosano Diopeta, who called the police.
Police officers from the Gandara police community precinct, led by Chief Inspector Christian de la Cruz, tried to convince Tan to surrender peacefully but the suspect chose to stay inside the closed room together with his wounded relatives.
The lawmen managed to force the door open, but Tan threw a butcher knife at De la Cruz, hitting him in the chest. De la Cruz was unhurt. Police Officer 3 Eduardo Belamide then fired at Tan.
Upon entering the room, the policemen found Cindy and her baby, as well as Tan’s four-year-old son, Arvin Jr., who was spared from harm.