Gun snatch suspect tagged in guard's murder falls

MANILA, Philippines - Manila policemen arrested Friday a suspected member of the “Agaw Armas (weapon snatching)” gang who allegedly shot dead a security guard of a car dealer office in Tondo, Manila.

Inspector Armando Macaraeg, chief of the homicide section of the Manila Police District, said Junjuville Ampil, 27, was nabbed along Raxabago street in Tondo following days of surveillance. The suspect and his companion, Renren Dino, 22, were identified through footage taken by a surveillance camera of the Toyota car dealer’s Jose Abad Santos, Tondo branch.

Ampil reportedly shot Luis Catunao, 28, security guard of the Toyota firm at around 3:55 a.m. Sunday. The two suspects failed to Catunao’s service firearm when another guard traded shots with the suspect, according to Macaraeg. The two suspects fled using a motorcycle.

SPO1 Gerardo Rivera, after securing prints of the closed-circuit television footage, asked informants to help identify Catunao’s killers.

Rivera said the suspects were engaged in snatching firearms, mostly from security guards, which they use for robbery and other illegal activities.

Macaraeg said the two suspects could be responsible for a series of firearm snatchings involving security guards.