BACOLOD CITY – A 23-year-old man was killed and four others, including two minors, were injured in a rumble with a group of teenagers in Barangay Guimbala-on, Silay City, Negros Occidental on Sunday, October 13.
Police identified the fatality as Jake Sombria of Barangay Guimbala-on. Injured were his brother Jay Mark Sombria, 19; Keil Emerich Gardoce, 20; and two minors aged 15 and 16, all residents of Barangay Guimbala-on.
Police Major Rhea Villanueva, deputy chief of the Silay City Police Station, said that the victims’ group and another group of young men figured in a fistfight following a benefit dance.
A 17-year-old suspect armed with a knife allegedly stabbed Jake. The victim’s companions saw the suspect stab Jake and confronted him, but they were also stabbed.
The victims were taken to a hospital where Jake was declared dead.
The victims and the suspects were believed to be drunk, Villanueva said.
Police arrested the six suspects aged 13 to 20, all residents of Barangay Bagtic, Silay City, in a pursuit operation in Barangay Guimbala-on.
Villanueva said that the suspects were released after the lapse of their reglementary detention.
She, however, said that they will push through with the homicide and frustrated homicide charges against the 17-year-old suspect and his companions.