Student shot dead in Malabon KTV bar

A graduating male nursing student was shot dead inside a KTV bar in an alleged accidental firing involving the bar owner early yesterday in Malabon City.

Senior Superintendent Moises Guevarra, city police chief, identified the victim as Dandel Sindatok, 20, a senior nursing student of Fatima University in Valenzuela and resident of Barangay Santulan, Malabon City.

Sindatok succumbed to a lone gunshot wound in the face with the bullet exiting in the back of the head.

The suspect, Alexis Mañalac, 20, a Hotel and Restaurant Management student, is also a nephew of Malabon City Councilor Alfonso "Boyong" Mañalac.

Initial investigation made by PO3 Bobby Egera and PO2 Ananias Birad showed Sindatok and the young Mañalac were at the VIP room of the King Rap Disco KTV on E. Rodriguez street, Barangay Santulan, Malabon City when the incident happened.

Mañalac, who was then manning the cash register of the family-owned bar at around 1:45 a.m., and the victim were reportedly close buddies since high school.

He was reportedly showing off a .45 caliber pistol to Sindatok when the gun fired, hitting the victim in the face.

Sindatok was taken to the nearby Fatima Medical Center on MacArthur Highway, but was declared dead on arrival by attending physicians.

The suspect surrendered to the police hours after the incident, accompanied by the elder Mañalac, a former cop and a long-time Malabon police chief before going into politics.

Chief Superintendent Leopoldo Bataoil, Northern Police District (NPD) chief, Guevarra and the Mañalacs were seen in a huddle at the nearby City Hall at around noon. The suspect was presented to media at the Malabon Police Station at around 1:30 p.m. yesterday.

Guevarra told reporters the councilor voluntarily surrendered the suspect to the police. He said the official also asked to treat his nephew like an ordinary suspect.

"The family asked the suspect to be treated like any ordinary person to avoid any impression of partiality or any special treatment," said Guevarra.

The victim’s family feared a whitewash of the case even as the officers gave assurance there would be no cover-up of the incident.

Guevarra’s account of the incident differed, however, from the initial official report submitted to Bataoil earlier.

In their spot report, probers Egera and Birad said Mañalac excused himself for a while as they talked in a room of the bar and left Sindatok alone at the table.

He had just left when an unidentified male allegedly approached the victim and shot him in the head.

The suspect allegedly ran out of the room, bringing with him the weapon. The same weapon, although identified by Guevarra as a .45 pistol, remains missing.