Caretaker faces murder charges
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A HOUSE caretaker who reloaded the pistol of a man who went on a shooting rampage near Manila that left nine people dead is facing multiple murder charges, officials said yesterday.
John Paul Lopez, who worked for the gunman, Ronald Bae, surrendered to authorities late on Friday, hours after the rampage, which left eight victims and the gunman dead, said Cavite provincial deputy police chief Dionicio Borromeo.
Eleven people were wounded in the incident in Cavite province's Kawit township. The carnage occurred just days after the death of a seven-year-old girl who was hit in the head by a stray bullet during New Year's Eve revelry in Manila, which sparked public criticism over lax gun control in the Philippines. Friday's rampage fueled pressure for more assertive action by authorities to deal with unlicensed firearms.
"This is really one of the worst shooting incidents in the Philippines, after the Maguindanao massacre," Borromeo said, referring to the November 2009 killing of 54 people, including 32 media workers, allegedly by followers of powerful political clan in the southern Philippines.
Borromeo said Lopez, 27, explained that Bae, 41, had threatened to kill him if he did not reload bullets into a .45-caliber pistol used in the killing spree.
Borromeo, however, said Lopez never tried to stop Bae or talk him out of the rampage, whose victims included a pregnant woman and her daughter.
He also said the Kawit police chief and his deputy have been relieved of their posts by senior police officials while they are being investigated for allegedly not responding to reports that Bae had fired his weapon behind his house four days earlier. Borromeo said records and officers' testimonies indicated they received no such reports.
John Paul Lopez, who worked for the gunman, Ronald Bae, surrendered to authorities late on Friday, hours after the rampage, which left eight victims and the gunman dead, said Cavite provincial deputy police chief Dionicio Borromeo.
Eleven people were wounded in the incident in Cavite province's Kawit township. The carnage occurred just days after the death of a seven-year-old girl who was hit in the head by a stray bullet during New Year's Eve revelry in Manila, which sparked public criticism over lax gun control in the Philippines. Friday's rampage fueled pressure for more assertive action by authorities to deal with unlicensed firearms.
"This is really one of the worst shooting incidents in the Philippines, after the Maguindanao massacre," Borromeo said, referring to the November 2009 killing of 54 people, including 32 media workers, allegedly by followers of powerful political clan in the southern Philippines.
Borromeo said Lopez, 27, explained that Bae, 41, had threatened to kill him if he did not reload bullets into a .45-caliber pistol used in the killing spree.
Borromeo, however, said Lopez never tried to stop Bae or talk him out of the rampage, whose victims included a pregnant woman and her daughter.
He also said the Kawit police chief and his deputy have been relieved of their posts by senior police officials while they are being investigated for allegedly not responding to reports that Bae had fired his weapon behind his house four days earlier. Borromeo said records and officers' testimonies indicated they received no such reports.
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