3 dead, 2 hurt in computer shop attack

MANILA, Philippines - A Korean national and two Filipinas were murdered in a computer repair shop in Barangay Poblacion, Makati City yesterday morning.

Chief Inspector Mario Ignacio, of the Police Community Precinct 9, identified the victims as Alex Ko, owner of the KP Network System shop on Singian street; secretary Kaye Gatus and cook Nory Lazarito. The shop is located in an area of Barangay Poblacion where many Koreans live and operate businesses.

Police said Ko and Gatus were found sprawled at the shop’s receiving area while Lazarito was found in the kitchen. Ignacio said Ko, Gatus and Lazarito bore multiple stab and gunshot wounds.

Police ruled out robbery, saying there was nothing missing from the shop. “The valuables of the victims were all intact. The shop also does not appear to have been ransacked,” Ignacio said.

Ignacio told reporters that at about 10 a.m., a police car was on a routine patrol along Singian street when a construction worker from a nearby building called the attention of the police and told them that there was a commotion inside the computer shop.

According to Ignacio, the worker led the policemen to the shop, where they found Ko, Gatus and Lazarito already dead. Two others, identified as computer technicians Arthur Dacles and Glen Pinluan, were found with knife and gunshot wounds.

Dacles and Pinluan are fighting for their lives at the Ospital ng Makati’s main branch in Pembo, Makati, police said.

Ignacio said they are tracking down at least four suspects. The motive for the attack has yet to be established, police said, adding they have recovered at least two .45 caliber shells from the shop.

However, Veneleza Radin, 26, Ko’s Filipina girlfriend, the murder could have been business-related.

Radin, who stayed with Ko overnight, told reporters that before leaving the shop yesterday morning, Ko received a text message from someone asking where the shop is located. She left the shop and it was the last time that she saw Ko alive.

Ko’s neighbors also told reporters that one of the wounded technicians said one of their attackers was a former customer of the shop.

Ko’s neighbors also said the wounded technicians even smashed a glass window of the shop to attract attention and ask for help.