Saturday, February 23, 2008 Grenade blast on N. Bacalso hurts 3; bank guard injures 2
THREE men were wounded after the live hand grenade their drunk companion rolled toward them exploded.
The incident, which took place yesterday dawn, was similar to another grenade blast that hit the same barangay last month.
Michael Jilwa, 28, a construction worker, fled after the blast and is the subject of a manhunt.
Homicide Section Chief Mario Monilar said they are preparing three counts of attempted murder against Jilwa, who rolled the grenade towards his drinking buddies.
Mark Jason Reales, 27, Leonardo Togonon, 19, and Randrosh Juntilla, 19, were drinking with Jilwa behind the basketball court in Sitio Laruga, Barangay Sambag I.
Jilwa had decided to go home around 2:40 a.m. when he suddenly returned carrying a hand grenade.
The three tried to persuade him to keep it away, but Jilwa allegedly challenged them to a fight.
Suddenly, Jilwa pulled out a piece of electric tape that was around the hand grenade, which somehow pulled the grenade’s pull ring and safety lever.
Seeing this, the three scampered away from him.
But Jilwa rolled the grenade towards them until it exploded.
Reales suffered shrapnel wounds in his left hand, while Togonon was injured in the buttocks. Juntilla had wounds in his right hand and right wrist.
They were released from the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) after a few hours at the emergency room because their injuries were minor.
A team from the Special Weapons and Tactics surveyed the crime scene and recovered the grenade’s safety lever and pull ring.
Jilwa’s drinking buddies were just as baffled as investigators as to why he would pull off such a stunt.
The suspect’s relatives also could not say how he came to be in possession of the grenade.
A TV report quoted them as saying he should surrender to police and tell them how he got hold of it.
Some residents whose homes were damaged by the blast are planning to file charges against him.
Shrapnel bore holes on some of the walls and roofs of a nearby house. Jilwa hails from La Castillana, Oriental Negros.
Hand
In last month’s incident, an allegedly drunk mechanic died hours after he played with a hand grenade. It also took paramedics a while to bring him to the hospital because they had to look for his missing left hand.
At past 10 a.m. yesterday, a security guard accidentally fired his issued shotgun and wounded two passersby.
Feli Estrera of the Dasia Security Agency was detailed at the Postal Bank at the corner of P. del Rosario and Junquera Sts. when an armored car arrived.
As he moved to secure the armored car, he tried to load his shotgun but it suddenly went off.
He hit Romulo Alferez, 43, in the abdomen and Maria Amadeo, 19, in the hands, elbow and thigh.
They were taken to the CCMC, and were later declared out of danger.
Estrera was taken to the Homicide Section for further investigation.
In the southwestern town of Ronda, Cebu, a man armed with a .45 pistol was found dead in a mountain barangay.
The body of Moises Morales, 56, was discovered around 5 a.m. Thursday in Barangay Canabojan with gunshot wounds in the head, chest and right elbow.
Eight empty shells of different caliber firearms and four deformed slugs were scattered around his body, while a .45 pistol with a loaded magazine was in a black holster tucked into his waistband.
Morales was reportedly on his way to bathe at a spring when he was attacked. MEA
