Parañaque gunman nabbed; noise feud motive eyed

Police arrested the suspected gunman in the Parañaque basketball court shooting Friday night, more than 48 hours after the attack that left two people dead and four others wounded inside a residential complex in Barangay Marcelo Green.

Authorities identified the suspect as William de Guzman, 59, who was arrested at around 8:30 p.m. inside a condominium unit in Barangay Moonwalk, Parañaque City.

Police recovered two 9mm pistols, several magazines and live ammunition from the suspect during the operation.

De Guzman is facing charges of two counts of murder, four counts of frustrated murder and violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act before the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office.

National Capital Region Police Office Director Maj. Gen. Anthony Aberin said investigators are looking into a personal grudge as the possible motive behind the attack.

“The first person he shot had previous disputes with him. The conflict reportedly began because the suspect kept complaining about the noise coming from the victim,” Aberin said.

Police said the suspect had previously confronted the victim twice at his condominium unit to complain about noise.

Investigators said De Guzman opened fire at around 7:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 4 March, killing alias Edwin, 57, and Arjay Gonzales, 29, both residents of Parañaque City.

Gonzales was an alumnus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Four other individuals were wounded and rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Southern Police District (SPD) Director PBGen. Randy Arceo praised the police units involved in the operation. But Arceo was silent about the fact that the suspect has a pending arrest warrant since 2023 after being convicted in Taguig City of homicide.

“Within just over 48 hours from the commission of the crime, our personnel were able to identify, locate and arrest the suspect through determined investigation and coordination among police units,” Arceo said.

Earlier, SPD public information chief Lt. Margaret Panaga said the warrant was issued by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 153 on 16 June 2023.