Man kills wife, three children and maid in the Philippines

2011-10-16 21:56:36 GMT+7 (ICT)

TALISAY, PHILIPPINES (BNO NEWS) -- A father in the central Philippines killed his wife, three children and a maid on early Sunday morning before turning the gun on himself, police said. The man may have been suffering from mental problems.

The shooting happened at around 7.30 a.m. local time at a house in Talisay, a city in Cebu province, when the 55-year-old man had a heated argument with his wife Melenda. There were conflicting reports about whether Emmanuel Ponce, the gunman, was drunk.

Police said Ponce shot and killed his wife, his two daughters aged 26 and 18, a son aged 25 and a maid who was identified as 30-year-old Anastacia Velliga. Another child, a 14-year-old girl, managed to escape after Ponce had told her to call an ambulance.

When police soon after arrived at the scene, Ponce was already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body and those of his victims were taken to the Talisay District Hospital.

Media reports said the couple was having marital problems, but relatives pointed out that Ponce suffered an accident 10 years ago when a beam struck his head. His family believes this accident caused mental problems and may have attributed to the cause of Sunday's incident.

Police are still investigating the motive behind the shooting.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-16

Sad. RIP

sad I know especially if he had head injurys, but why the kids always the poor kids cop it no matter how old they are..

R.I.P