Gian Habal
  • Sex: Male
  • Age: 6
  • Occupation: Student
Incident Details
  • Killed in police operation in public
  • Location of Incident: Caloocan City
Source(s)

Gian Habal, a six-year-old boy, was killed in an alleged crossfire between a drug suspect and a police officer in Caloocan. He was playing outside the house when he was shot in the forehead.

He was supposed to start second grade at the Camarin Elementary School. He had had wanted to become a policeman.

Gian’s 65-year-old grandmother, Elsa Montañez, said she and her husband ran after Cpl. Rocky delos Reyes. Delos Reyes broke away after shooting her in the foot, Elsa said.

“I grabbed his shirt and asked him why he shot my grandson. He did not reply. He just said, ‘let go of me.’ I did not let go of him until he shot me in the foot.” He was wearing a police uniform at the time, she said.

The police officer accused of killing the boy has surrendered to the Caloocan police station and will undergo paraffin and ballistic test, Caloocan police chief Col. Restituto Arcangel said. Delos Reyes will be charged with homicide for the boy’s death and serious physical injuries for wounding the grandmother.

Delos Reyes claimed he was on his way home when he chanced upon the drug suspect known as “Botchok,” who engaged him in a shootout that killed the boy, Arcangel said. Gian’s mother said Botchok is a tricycle driver and allegedly a pusher in the area.

But the family is not buying the story of a shootout. The gunshot wound was right in the middle of Gian’s forehead, his grandmother said.

“Gian was still fighting for his life on the way to the hospital. But it was too late.” said Jessa Habal, Gian’s mother, who also lost her husband Ronaldo two years ago due to complications from gallbladder stones. Gian was the middle child in a brood of three.