Man shoots tutor dead, takes own kin hostage in Cavite

A man shot a tutor dead and took his own relative hostage in Cavite province Thursday evening before eventually surrendering to police before dawn Friday. Cavite provincial police chief Senior Superintendent John Bulalacao said the suspect, initially identified as Nasser Arobinto, surrendered after hours of negotiation. "May pinatay siya na isang babae, meron siyang (posibleng) murder case doon. Sa hostage taking may binaril na relative ... (pwedeng) frustrated murder or frustrated homicide," Bulalacao said in an interview on dzBB radio. Police Superintendent Red Maranan, who led the negotiation for Arobinto's surrender, said at least one person was wounded during the standoff. But he said Arobinto also yielded his cal-.45 pistol after the incident. "Nailabas ang isang sugatan doon. (Pero) sinuko niya ang baril niya," he added. A separate report by dzBB's Rodil Vega said Arobinto was convinced to surrender before 4 a.m. Friday, ending a standoff that lasted more than seven hours. The report said police were preparing homicide charges against him for killing the tutor, but are leaving it to his own family on whether to pursue charges against him for taking his own relative hostage. Police also said they are looking into whether Arobinto was high on drugs at the time he ran amuck. The incident occurred in Datu Ismael village in Dasmariñas town in Cavite, the radio report said. An initial investigation showed Arobinto shot dead private tutor Delma Saldaña for no apparent reason, then took one of his own relatives hostage. Maranan added he used mediators to convince him to "cooperate" and surrender. — LBG, GMA News