Saturday, October 20, 2007 Teenager saw gunman’s face in drive-by shootings
THE Cebu City Homicide Section is looking for a teenager who is believed to have seen the face of the gunman in the recent drive-by shootings in Cebu City.
The boy is reportedly hiding in a southern Cebu town after he escaped from a shooting incident last Sept. 21.
He is said to be the one targeted, but someone else was shot. He has been hiding since, but Cebu City Police Office Director Patrocinio Comendador said the teenager has expressed his interest in giving his statement.
Results of the ballistic and cross-matching exams on the evidence in the Oct. 4 drive-by shootings showed that the bullets came from the same gun.
Comendador said Thursday that the findings of the PNP 7 Crime Laboratory bolstered the theory of police investigators that the three shootings that killed three people and injured four others were carried out by one gunman.
The Homicide Section received a copy of the report from the crime laboratory last Tuesday. It had submitted the slugs and empty shells from a .45 pistol that were recovered on V. Gullas St., Sanciang-ko St. and Ascension St.
A separate test showed that the same .45 pistol was used in the Sept. 21 shooting at the corner of Jakosalem and Sanciang-ko Sts. in Barangay Parian.
Also yesterday, a man who was with Lawrence “Oying” Morados when the latter was shot went to the Homicide Section to submit his statement.
The witness said he was sitting by the road on V. Gullas St. last Oct. 4 when two men on a dark blue Honda motorcycle passed by, going against the traffic on the one- way street.
When they reached a bakeshop, they made a U-turn when one of his companions called out to the two men on the motorcycle. They did not answer, but went on their way.
Fifteen meters away, he saw the gunman pull a firearm from his waist and shoot several times a group of people standing along the side of the road near a store.
He then shot Morados, who was driving a motorcycle. Morados asked the witness for help. Five minutes later, he heard gunshots.
The witness was shown copies of the cartographic sketch of the gunman and identified him as the same one who shot Morados. Police currently have five witnesses in the drive-by shootings.
Homicide Section Chief Mario Monilar said they are focusing on strengthening the case against a fraternity member who is tagged responsible for the shootings.
Monilar said all they need is a tip from someone and they can arrest the gunman, who has a pending arrest warrant and a P300,000 reward for his capture.
He is dismayed that one of the survivors of the attack, Mhako Repello Buenconsejo, 18, has declined to cooperate with the investigation.
Buenconsejo was reportedly with friends since 5 p.m. that day, celebrating a fraternity’s 39th anniversary. (MEA/JST)
