3 dead in Iloilo office shooting

ILOILO CITY — An employee of a credit company here went on a shooting rampage inside his office the other day, killing two fellow employees and wounding another before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Police said Antonio Baylon, of Escanilla Credit Facilities Inc., went berserk at 9 a.m., just minutes after the company’s office opened, and shot with a 9 mm pistol, fellow employees Rita Espino, Larry Blace and Mary Ann Deloso one after the other, after which he killed himself.

Blace and Deloso died instantly, while Espino survived a gunshot wound in the neck.

Police said Baylon suffered a nervous breakdown days before the shooting.

Investigation showed that a "love triangle" among Baylon, Deloso and Blace, the company driver, could have triggered the shooting.

A local radio station said that a day before the shooting rampage, the three went to a restaurant for a snack. However, when they had to pay for the meal, Deloso accepted Blace’s offer to pay for her food and rejected Baylon’s.

But police investigators believe that Baylon’s nervous breakdown triggered the incident. — Leo Solinap