ILOILO City – Around 8:25 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, outside a hypermarket in Zarraga, Iloilo a security guard shot another security guard then fled on a motorcycle.
Moment after, suspect Mark Anthony Secherita, 27, of Barangay Merced, Banate, Iloilo was arrested by policemen at the Rural Health Unit of nearby Santa Barbara town. He had a stab wound on his back treated there; it was inflicted by his victim prior to the shooting.
The shooting victim, Paquito Besa, 27, of Barangay Nasapahan, Lemery, Iloilo, was taken to the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan town for treatment.
According to the Zarraga police station, jealousy may have sparked the Saturday night violence.
Prior to the shooting, Secherita was seen with a back rider – the 23-year-old Mae Joy C. Acotan of Barangay Anabo, Lemery, Iloilo and a cashier at the hypermarket.
Police said Acoton and Besa were a couple.
Besa seeing Acoton with Secherita may have driven the former to fits of jealousy and he stabbed Secherita.
Closed-circuit television footage showed Secherita fleeing after Besa stabbed him, but he (Secherita) returned moments later with a handgun and shot Besa thrice.
Alert Zarraga policemen launched a manhunt and successfully caught Secherita in Santa Barbara. He was eventually referred to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City for the further treatment of his stab wound.
Investigation is ongoing, according to Zarraga police chief, Captain Raffy Señeres./PN
