7 killed in suspected drug related feud in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines—Gunmen have shot dead seven people including three teens and a pregnant woman in violence suspected to be linked to a feud involving illegal drugs, Philippine police said Thursday.

One of four suspects in Wednesday night’s shooting in Caloocan city in metropolitan Manila has been arrested, pinpointed by a survivor of the attack, said Chief Superintendent Roberto Fajardo.

A group of young men were dancing in a house that is reportedly a drug den when gunmen barged in and started shooting, said Fajardo, the district police chief. The assailants then followed one of the men who fled to a nearby house, where a pregnant woman and her mother-in-law were killed, he said.

The city police said in a statement that the two houses have been identified as being used for peddling drugs, and sachets of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were found inside.

Fajardo said investigators suspect the killings were a result of double dealing on drugs or drug money.

The mother of one the victims, a 15-year-old boy, wailed as police put the dead in body bags.

“My child, my child!” Gretchen Espinosa cried in a video posted online by ABS-CBN News.

“People may not know who you are, but you will not be able to escape from God,” she said, apparently referring to the assailants. “Whatever you did will also be done to you.”

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been waging a brutal crackdown on drug users and dealers that has left thousands dead since he took office in June. More than 6,000 suspects have been killed, drawing international concerns.