(UPDATED) A mother and her son, both unarmed, were shot dead by a policeman during an altercation over right of way in Barangay Cabayaoasan in Paniqui, Tarlac on Sunday afternoon, December 20, 2020.
A video clip that went viral on social media Monday morning, December 21, showed Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca shooting Sonya Gregorio, 52, and her son Frank Anthony Gregorio, 25, in the head at point-blank range at 5:10 p.m. Sunday.
He shot both of them again after they fell. The incident occurred in front of Nuezca's daughter, who had shouted at Sonya Gregorio just minutes earlier to shut up because her father is a policeman.
Nuezca, who is assigned at the ParaƱaque City Crime Laboratory, was booked for double murder after he surrendered and turned over his service firearm to the town police in Rosales, Pangasinan.
His surrender was recorded at 6:19 p.m. on Sunday, a report from the Paniqui Police Station said.
The incident drew public outrage as footage of the shooting was circulated on social media Monday morning.
As of 1:35 p.m. Monday, the hashtags #StopTheKillingPH, #JusticeforSonyaGregorio, #EndPoliceBrutality and #PULISANGTERORISTA were the top trending topics on Twitter Philippines.
The hashtag #StopTheKillingPH topped the list with over 554,000 tweets, followed by #JusticeforSonyaGregorio with more than 311,000 tweets, #EndPoliceBrutality with 243,000 tweets and #PULISANGTERORISTA with 174,000 tweets. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)