Antipolo road rage now a murder case – police
SHOOTING VICTIM A screengrab from a viral video of a road altercation in Antipolo City on Sunday shows the suspect, Kenneth, carrying a woman into his sport utility vehicle, after he shot her and several others. He was later arrested by the police. —SCREENGRAB PHOTO
One of the four people who were shot during a road rage incident in Antipolo City on Sunday afternoon died on Monday night in the hospital, police said.
The 52-year-old victim was shot in the head during the incident in front of a coffee shop along Marcos Highway in Barangay San Jose, which was captured on video.
Antipolo City Police chief Lt. Col. Ryan Manongdo said the victim, identified in the police report only as “Peter,” one of the three motorbike riders involved in the incident, died after undergoing surgery.
Because of the death, Manongdo said, the police will “upgrade” the criminal charges earlier filed against the suspect “Kenneth” from three counts of homicide to “murder and two counts of frustrated murder.”
The suspect, a 28-year-old businessman, is also being charged with violation of the nationwide gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections in view of the May 12 polls, the official added in a Facebook livestream on Monday night.
Fistfight escalates
The now-viral video showed Kenneth and three motorcycle riders initially getting into a fistfight over a traffic dispute, until the suspect, who had taken a beating, pulled a gun and fired several rounds.
Aside from the victim who later died, also hit was the suspect’s wife; Peter’s 22-year-old son, who was wounded in the arm; and a 29-year-old male bystander who only tried to intervene but was hit in the chest.
Kenneth fled the scene in his black sport utility vehicle but was arrested later that day after a car chase with policemen that ended at a checkpoint at Masinag, Barangay Mayamot, also in Antipolo. He remained in detention as of Tuesday.
The Land Transportation Office on Monday suspended the suspect’s driving license for 90 days. —Frances Mangosing INQ
