Guard who held wife hostage gunned down

LEGAZPI CITY — Apparently high on drugs, a security guard held his wife hostage in a shopping mall here last Monday, but was gunned down by policemen when he shot her twice.

The hostage-taker, Roderick Bobis, 34, who worked for the D’ Arms Trust Protective and Security Services, died from gunshot wounds in the chest, right ear and arm.

His wife, Raquel, 26, is in critical condition at the Aquinas University Hospital with two bullet wounds in the abdomen — one bullet pierced through her stomach and the slug of the second bullet is embedded in her spinal column.

The bullets were fired from Bobis’ caliber .38 snub-nosed pistol.

Police said Bobis barged into the Gamer’s Station, a video game arcade at the second floor of the Metro Pacific Mall where his wife works as a sales supervisor, at about 4:30 p.m. and took her hostage.

Bobis fired a shot inside the establishment, sending customers and mall-goers scampering for safety.

Senior Superintendent Jose Capinpin, deputy police chief, said policemen tried to persuade Bobis to put his gun down but he did not heed the appeal, instead shooting his wife twice. This prompted elements of the police special operations group to gun him down.

Investigators said Bobis would beat up his wife whenever he was high on drugs, suspecting that she was involved in an illicit affair with another man.

Unable to bear the ordeal, Bobis’ wife recently left him and brought their three children to her parents’ house in Barangay Rawis this city.

Probers said they saw a picture of Raquel wearing only a black bra and black tanga in Bobis’ wallet.