By Dhel Nazario
For still undetermined reasons, a Taiwanese national died after shooting himself on the street just outside the hotel he last checked in on Tuesday in Pasay City.
(Photo by Pasay Police District)
The man was identified as Wang Yi Chieh. Chieh was last billeted at Room 430 of SOGO Hotel, along F.B. Harrison Street, Pasay City.
In the report submitted to Station Investigation and Detective Management Branch (SIDMB) Chief, Chief Insp. Wilfredo Sangel, the incident occurred at around 3 in the afternoon on the gutter along F.B. Harrison Street beside the Mabuhay Manor Hotel.
Prior to the incident, Chieh checked in alone at the said room on January 13 at about 11:30 in the morning, and was supposed to check out on Tuesday at the same time. The hotel's supervisor said that Chieh was looking for a room with a window, and was offered one at the ground floor which he refused and insisted that he wanted one at the upper portion of the hotel.
A cigarette vendor told police that she saw Chieh who looked uneasy, carrying a back pack walking to and fro at the area. She added that he later sat down on the gutter where he took a firearm from his bag. He used the firearm to shoot himself in the head. Chieh died on the scene from the lone gunshot wound on his head.
Police recovered from the scene one Beretta firearm, loaded with six pieces of live ammunition, one deformed bullet, and one fired cartridge case. They also retrieved several of his belongings.
They also recovered from his room pages of an alleged suicide note written in Chinese characters. His body was moved to the Veronica Funeral Homes for safekeeping pending the coordination from the Taiwan Embassy.