Army reservist kills neighbor in drunken rampage

MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested an Army reservist for allegedly shooting his neighbor in Malabon City Friday night.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Roberto Villanueva identified the suspect as T/Sgt. Romeo de la Torre, 29, a member of the Armed Forces Reserve Command and a resident of Barangay Catmon.

Fish ball vendor Emmanuel Castro, 22, died of a bullet wound in the head while being treated at the Pagamutang Bayan ng Malabon.

Senior Police Officer 2 Ferdinand Espiritu, Malabon City police investigator, said that at around 10 p.m., neighbors heard De la Torre quarreling with a member of his household.

De la Torre was later seen outside his house carrying a .45 caliber pistol, which he fired several times into the air.

The drunken suspect then shot Castro as he was cleaning a pedicab he uses for his business, Espiritu said.

Superintendent Richard Saavedra, Malabon City police Night Watch commander, led a team of Special Weapons and Tactics and Police Community Precinct-4 police officers in arresting De la Torre, but the police failed to recover his weapon. “He hid the fatal weapon but yet there were witnesses who saw what happened,” Espiritu told The STAR.

He said they were preparing to charge the suspect with murder before the Malabon City prosecutor’s office. – Jerry Botial, Pete Laude