MANILA – Three men on a motorcycle shot dead single mother Shiela Mendoza who has just withdrawn cash worth PhP100,000 from a bank in Manila last Friday (December 2), reports said.
The thirty-seven year old woman was first shot in the hands so she would release her bag and was finished off with two more shots to the chest as she lay on the ground.
Reports said the incident happened at around 1 p.m. Friday on Pedro Gil Street in Paco. Mendoza was declared dead on arrival at the Sta. Ana Hospital.
According to an Inquirer report, Mendoza had just gotten off a jeepney on Pedro Gil and was walking to her house when a man grabbed her shoulder bag from behind.
Witnesses said Mendoza struggled with the man, who poked a .45-caliber pistol at her. But when she still resisted, the robber shot her hands, which caused her to reel and fall on the pavement.
As soon as the man got her bag, he shot Mendoza twice more in the chest before running toward his two companions, who were riding tandem on a red Kawazaki motorcycle across the street.
The Inquirer report said Mendoza left behind a 13-year-old daughter and had withdrawn the money for house repairs. Mendoza was reportedly unemployed and was relying on a sibling abroad for her and her child’s subsistence.
The Manila Police District issued a composite picture of the shooter, based on descriptions given by witnesses. The police said that based on descriptions given by the witnesses, the gunman is between 35 and 40 years old, at least five-foot-three inches tall, dark-skinned, of heavy build, and was clad in a blue shirt denim pants.
The police theorized that the robbers may have been tipped off to the large amount of money the victim withdrew, prompting them to follow her from the bank.
