Pedicab driver who ran amuck  shot dead by responding cop

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

A 36-year-old pedicab driver died after he was shot by a policeman morning of June 26 in Oton, Iloilo.

Marjune Millar, a resident of Barangay Buray, Oton, succumbed to a lone gunshot injury on the left side of his abdomen.

Before the shooting episode at the Oton town plaza, police received a report of an armed man who went unruly at Panique Subdivision in Buray village at around 6 a.m. Monday.

Corporal Mark Benard Villanueva and Patrolman Desbaro responded to the area but failed to catch anyone.

At 6:20 a.m., the Oton Municipal Police Station again received a call asking for police assistance because of the presence of a man who was acting unruly at the Oton plaza.

Villanueva and Desbaro again responded to the plaza where the alleged armed man was seen.

They allegedly saw Millar holding a kitchen knife and poised to attack passersby.

Major Fernand Limbungan, Oton police chief, said that Corporal Villanueva asked Villanueva to throw his knife and go with the police.

“He (Villanueva) said it with caution but it didn’t appease Millar,” Limbungan said.

Millar instead inched toward the policemen and lunged with the knife towards Villanueva.

The policeman parried the attack and subsequently shot the pedicab driver once using his service firearm.

Limbungan said members of the Oton Search and Rescue Team immediately applied first aid on Millar and rushed him to Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

He was declared dead around 7:45 a.m.

Limbungan said that he already talked to Millar’s wife after the incident.

The woman claimed her husband had no history of mental illness.

Prior to his death, he was reportedly not sleeping well for three days and had not eaten.

Millar had also been drinking liquor.

“We couldn’t ascertain if his mental condition was affected by the lack of sleep and food intake causing him to run amok,” Limbungan said.

As this developed, Limbungan said he would ask the PNP Regional Health Service Unit to conduct stress debriefing with his personnel.

He said that the Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS) will also conduct a motu proprio investigation for any culpability, if there is any, on the two policemen.

“It was an act of self-defense but investigation is still in order because there was a discharge of a firearm,” Limbungan said.

It remains uncertain if Millar’s family would pursue charges against Villanueva.