Manila cops eye random tests for guards amid mall shootings

Manila cops are eyeing "random tests" for mall security guards in the city to prevent incidents similar to the shooting that happened in a shopping mall in Pampanga on Tuesday. Radio dzBB's Cecilia Villarosa reported on Wednesday that the tests would involve plainclothes police personnel entering the malls and going through security checks. Manila Police Distro head Chief Superintendent Roberto Rongavilla said he expects security in malls to be tightened especially as more people shop in malls as the Christmas Season draws closer. Mall shooting incidents On Tuesday, in an apparent suicide attempt, a 13-year-old boy shot himself after shooting his alleged male 16-year-old lover inside a shopping mall in Mexico, Pampanga. GMA News Online is withholding the identities of the two victims because they are both minors. Both are in critical condition. Late on Tuesday evening, the family of the 13-year-old boy have decided to take him out of life support. A doctor at the hospital where the 13-year-old boy is confined said the victim's parents have agreed to donate their son's cornea and kidney. The other boy, who was still in comatose condition, was transferred to another hospital. The shooting incident in Pampanga happened on the heels of a similar shooting incident that killed two people at another shopping mall in Quezon City. In the earlier incident, a woman identified as Sheila Macapugay, shot her husband before attempting to shoot herself on September 15. A mall security guard, who tried to stop the woman from shooting herself, ended up getting shot instead. Both the woman's husband and security guard died in the hospital. Both incidents happened at SM Malls. In a statement read on GMA News TV Live on Tuesday, vice president for marketing of the SM Supermalls Millie Dizon said the company is conducting its own investigation on the incident. Dizon said the mall's security had failed to detect the firearm from the shooter because it was too small. The gun was "smaller than the size of a palm" and could not be detected by their metal detectors, she said. - VVP, GMA News