A road rage incident that occurred in Antipolo City last Sunday has resulted in a death after the person who sustained a gunshot in the head died in the hospital. That means that the arrested shooter, who was already facing three counts of frustrated murder for shooting 3 people, will also be facing upgraded charges.
That’s one life ended, 1 life destroyed because some people succumbed to road rage that started with a traffic altercation and was escalated until a fistfight broke out and then ended with a shooting incident that injured 3 and killed one.
Based on reports, the incident occurred around 5pm on Sunday, March 30, when a group of riders reportedly got into a traffic dispute with a vehicle. There were multiple videos of the incident as it unfolded, shared on social media, and from what the internet sleuths could piece together, it seemed that the triggered motorcycle riders and the Fortuner were harassing and chasing down each other on the road. This was when the incident could be categorized as “kamote”, even if it would seem that the kamoteness of the people involved was already a factor from the start, as level headed and rational folk wouldn’t have descended into such chaos so easily.
The long and short of it was that the kamote riders chased the Fortuner driver all the way to a café just to start an argument, with the intention of getting into a brawl. When the brawl that they were hankering for started, they ganged up on the driver who put up a bit of a fight. What the fighting riders didn’t count on was that the driver had a firearm. They were probably hoping that the Comelec gun ban would allow them to gang up on somebody without too many consequences. Having fucked around, they unfortunately found out that some people still carry firearms despite the gun ban for the exact reason that sometimes, they might actually need that gun.
The guy who was losing the brawl against multiple helmeted assailants took out his firearm and started shooting. The guy who eventually died was hit in the head, another was hit in the right arm, another in the chest. A female identified as the shooter’s partner also appeared to be injured in the shooting.
Authorities conducted a hot pursuit operation and the shooter was arrested at a checkpoint.
This is one of the more interesting cases of road rage I have heard about because the driver of the Fortuner had apparently already disengaged after the initial incident, but the riders found it necessary to track him down with the intent to gang up on him. If you come to think of it and put yourself in the place of the guy where he was faced with multiple helmeted attackers and he had a gun in the car, I’d probably be forced to use it as well. Given the gift of 20/20 hindsight, I’d probably say that I should just fire a warning shot to end the fight, or maybe shoot to disable the nearest and biggest threat, but in the heat of a brawl where emotions are sky high, there are no guarantees.
It’s easy to say that such situations can be avoided just by simply keeping your cool at all times and never engaging with assholes. But sometimes near misses happen, and even if you try to be apologetic about it, some people just want to make a big deal over small things. The thought that the kamote gang followed their target to the café just to pick a fight makes me want to have a gun in my car too. I know the smarter move would’ve been to go to a police station and wait for them at the parking lot, but what if you didn’t know the crazies were following you and then they follow you to your destination just to pick a fight, or worse, follow you home?
It may seem like I’m siding with the shooter here, but I’m not. What he did was wrong. He violated a Comelec gun ban. He used his firearm indiscriminately. He killed a man and shot at multiple unarmed targets. He even injured his partner with his erratic shooting. In other words, his lack of control and poor decision making makes him a terrible gun owner. But it is also understandable that he turned to his weapon. It’s just unfortunate that he lost control and is now facing murder charges. The other party in the road rage incident, was killed or ended up in the hospital. If only they didn’t succumb to the primal call of road rage.
The lesson here, particularly for those who have a tendency to make patol or fall into a rage, is that it is not worth it. You’ll never know if they are armed, crazy, or both. So just suck it up, find that place of peace, and just get to your destination safely, especially if you have loved ones and family in the vehicle. Nobody wants to end up dead, in the hospital, or in prison just because some idiot cut you off. Understand the saying: Live and let live.*
