Monday, January 28, 2008 Police junk love, gang angles in student slay By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
THE slay of St. Louis University student Jude Wal II, who was shot down in cold blood along M. Roxas Street early Friday morning, was not frat-related nor was it possible that it resulted in a love triangle, said senior investigator of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) who sought anonymity in the meantime until more positive results emerge from an ongoing probe.
"We have discounted the possibility that his death was due to gang violence because we were informed (by many sources) that he was not a member of any youth group," the police said.
"It was also remotely possible that his death may have been due to a failed relationship or a love triangle because he parted ways with his former girlfriend about two years ago and it was a friendly separation," he added.
However, he said the BCPO is not discounting other motives in the slay of Wal as investigators of BCPO Station 2 and Station 6, who are conducting the investigation, are still looking into other possible angles.
It may be recalled in an earlier report that Wal was shot, while driving his younger brother to school, in a green Kia Besta van bearing license plate WPL-904 at 6:45 a.m. of January 25.
Although the killer managed to elude arrest after the daring daylight crime, since it was perpetrated in a high-traffic area, witnesses were able to describe him as being 5'4" in height and riding a motorcycle.
Wal was 22, single, a student from Tadian, Mountain Province, who resides at LB-16 Pines Park, Km. 4, La Trinidad, Benguet.
Initial investigation revealed that the shooting was committed near the corner of M. Roxas Street and Rimando Road.
The victim was driving his younger brother to the SLU Laboratory High School in Navy Base Road, Pacdal, when they were caught up in traffic before reaching the intersection of Trancoville and Broookside, particularly in front of the Tabora Ice Plant.
After the killer alighted from his motorcycle, he immediately approached the passenger side of the van and fired his gun several times at the victim, before fleeing on his getaway vehicle towards Brookside.
The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds on his head, chest and biceps.
The victim was rushed to the SLU Hospital of the Sacred Heart emergency ward by a police team on board BCPO Mobile 86.
Although efforts were made to revive Wal, his attending physician, Dr. Noli Velasquez, said he expired around 8 a.m. Friday.
A scene-of-the-crime operation (Soco) reportedly able to recover several spent bullet shells in the area.
Separate teams from BCPO Station 2 and Station 6 are still trying to determine the possible motive behind the student's untimely death.
