ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Police have identified the suspect in a grenade explosion that killed a seven-year-old girl and the suspect himself in Pontevedra town, in Capiz Monday.
Jorjan Develos, 37, of Barangay Tuburan, Maayon town, was identified by his sister, said Senior Superintendent Ulysses Caton, provincial police director.
Develos worked as a butcher at his sister’s meat stall.
Police have yet to know why the suspect was carrying a grenade, but reports said he was engaged in illegal drug activities.
Caton said the explosion was caused by a fragmentation grenade and not an improvised explosive device.
Aside from Develos, Czarina Rose de Mayo, a Grade 1 pupil of the nearby Lantangan Elementary School, died in the blast.
Prior to the explosion, witnesses said they saw the suspect walking near a group of children playing outside the school.
Fifteen others were wounded in the incident. They were brought to the Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital and Bailan District Hospital for treatment.