SAN SIMON, Pampanga – Four youths, including two minors, who are believed to be members of a gun-for-hire syndicate, were held by the police here for their alleged attempt to kill last Wednesday night Apalit town’s election officer Filomeno Eufemia Jr.
Pampanga police director Senior Supt. Manuel Gaerlan said the suspects are believed to be syndicate members who were apparently paid to kill Eufemia.
Two of the suspects were only 17 years old, while the two others were aged 18 and 19. Police here declined to name them pending further investigation.
In a phone interview, Eufemia said he was driving his Mitshubishi van, with his girlfriend on board, along a barangay road in Barangay San Miguel in this town at about 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday when two suspects on board a motorcycle sidled up to his vehicle.
He said the attempt on his life was “work related” and that even before the last May 10 elections, he had already informed the police about threats to his life.
He said the driver of the motorcycle has a handkerchief covering his face, with the other armed suspect riding in tandem had no face cover.
“The armed suspect fired the pistol he was holding and hit the door of my vehicle. Luckily, the bullet did not pierce through,” Eufemia said.
Eufemia said the suspects sped past his vehicle as the armed suspect again trained his pistol towards his windshield with him as target, but the pistol apparently jammed.
“I swerved by vehicle to the right to shield by companion from being hit. The gunman attempted to fire more shots but his pistol remained jammed,” he said.
He said the suspects then fled even as a policeman residing nearby alerted his colleagues at the municipal hall.
Gaerlan said that pursuit operations led to the arrest of the four suspects who were on board two motorcycles. “They were caught in an isolated area,” he said.
Eufemia identified one of the four as the gunman who was aged 18.
Pampanga police director Senior Supt. Manuel Gaerlan said the suspects are believed to be syndicate members who were apparently paid to kill Eufemia.
Two of the suspects were only 17 years old, while the two others were aged 18 and 19. Police here declined to name them pending further investigation.
In a phone interview, Eufemia said he was driving his Mitshubishi van, with his girlfriend on board, along a barangay road in Barangay San Miguel in this town at about 8:30 p.m. last Wednesday when two suspects on board a motorcycle sidled up to his vehicle.
He said the attempt on his life was “work related” and that even before the last May 10 elections, he had already informed the police about threats to his life.
He said the driver of the motorcycle has a handkerchief covering his face, with the other armed suspect riding in tandem had no face cover.
“The armed suspect fired the pistol he was holding and hit the door of my vehicle. Luckily, the bullet did not pierce through,” Eufemia said.
Eufemia said the suspects sped past his vehicle as the armed suspect again trained his pistol towards his windshield with him as target, but the pistol apparently jammed.
“I swerved by vehicle to the right to shield by companion from being hit. The gunman attempted to fire more shots but his pistol remained jammed,” he said.
He said the suspects then fled even as a policeman residing nearby alerted his colleagues at the municipal hall.
Gaerlan said that pursuit operations led to the arrest of the four suspects who were on board two motorcycles. “They were caught in an isolated area,” he said.
Eufemia identified one of the four as the gunman who was aged 18.
