Willie Nep’s grandson shot

MANILA, Philippines - A grandson of impersonator Willie Nepomuceno and his companion were shot by a group of men in Marikina City before dawn yesterday.

Gabriel Nepomuceno, 16, sustained a gunshot wound in the chest and is now listed in serious condition at the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center.

In a radio interview, the elder Nepomuceno said his grandson sustained gunshot wounds in the liver, intestine and pelvic bone. He was set to undergo surgery, he said.

“I don’t know about his condition, but one of the assisting nurses said his blood pressure is stable. I was even able to talk to him and he told me, ‘I love you, Lolo,’” the comic said. 

The younger Nepomuceno’s companion, Frank Raven Diocson, 17, was shot in the leg and sent home after being treated in the same hospital.

Mistaken identity?

City police chief Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Jagmis said Nepomuceno, Diocson and two others went to have a snack at a burger stand just before 3 a.m. after spending time in a computer shop along Bayan-Bayanan street in Barangay Marikina Heights.

While they were eating, a group of men arrived in a car and confronted Nepomuceno’s group, accusing them of engaging in a quarrel in the computer shop.

The men started beating up Nepomuceno and his group. The attackers shot at the fleeing victims.

“Before the group of the victims arrived in the computer shop, there was a commotion inside. We are now pursuing the mistaken identity angle in our investigation of the incident,” Jagmis said in an interview.

According to Jagmis, witnesses managed to take note the plate number of the car but he refused to reveal it so as not to jeopardize ongoing follow-up operations.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima said the Marikina police “should look into angles other than mistaken identity. They should dig deeper.”

He said his men are coordinating with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to trace the owner of the vehicle used by the attackers.

Investigators recovered slugs and shells from .45, .38 and .40 caliber handguns at the crime scene.

Nepomuceno’s attending doctors prevented police investigators from talking to him because of his present physical condition. However, Jagmis said his men took down the statements of the victim’s two companions, which “would greatly help us in solving the case.” – With Cecille Suerte Felipe