Roxas Blvd murder suspect shot self, MPD says

MANILA, Philippines -  A Chinese man arrested for killing his girlfriend last month reportedly shot himself using a gun he grabbed from a police officer Saturday night, the Manila Police District (MPD) said yesterday.

According to an MPD report, Gong Shu Yang, 26, was being brought to the Manila City prosecutor’s office at around 9:10 p.m. when he supposedly snatched the service firearm of one of his escorts and shot himself through the chin.

Senior Police Officer 1 Charles John Duran of the MPD’s homicide section, whose gun Gong reportedly grabbed, told reporters the alleged suicide happened at the corner of Ayala Boulevard and Taft Avenue.

Duran, together with PO3 Alonzo Layugan and PO2 Jason Ibaco, were accompanying Gong to the city hall for him to undergo inquest proceedings.

“We were in the back seat of a police car. I dropped some of my papers so I had to retrieve them from the car floor. The suspect grabbed the gun from my belt, pointed it at his chin and pulled the trigger,” Duran said.

The police officers rushed the victim to the Philippine General Hospital but Gong died while being treated.

According to MPD homicide section head Senior Inspector Joey de Ocampo, the three police officers are being investigated to determine whether there was foul play involved in Gong’s death. The three were also subjected to a paraffin test after the incident, he said.

De Ocampo said Gong was handcuffed, his hands in front of him, when he allegedly committed suicide.

Gong was arrested Thursday night, days after he ran over and repeatedly stabbed his lover, 24-year-old Zhao Chun Lan, along Roxas Boulevard last month. The killing was caught on video by a surveillance camera installed at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Gong admitted the crime, but claimed he killed Zhao after she threatened to have him killed when he failed to pay the P1.3-million he owed her.