Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Akrho hitman ‘was shooter’
THE police have yet to arrest a suspected fraternity hitman, but they filed three separate murder and one frustrated murder charges against him yesterday.
Aristotle Aves was identified as the perpetrator in the drive-by shootings that killed three men and injured four others early this month.
Aves, a resident of Barangay Duljo-Fatima, is suspected to be the hitman of the Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho) fraternity. He is wanted for other fraternity-related killings.
A 17-year-old witness identified him as the man who shot at the group of Lord Stephen Vasquez, William John Aznar and Rendon Pellerin on Ascencion St. in Barangay Sambag 1 last Oct. 4.
Vasquez and Aznar died from gunshot wounds. Pellerin also got hit but survived.
The same gunman, riding on a motorcycle with a driver, also went on a shooting spree on V. Gullas St. and Sanciangko St. that same night.
“The suspect is Aristotle Aves alias Aris. Aves was the gunman on that (fateful) day,” CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador said in a press conference yesterday.
After the filing of the complaints before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office, Comendador said he ordered the reactivation of the Task Force Aves headed by Senior Insp. George Ylanan. He said the task force will conduct “invigorated hot pursuit operations” against the Akrho member.
10 cases
Although a warrant is yet to be issued against Aves for the drive-by shootings, Comendador said the police can arrest the alleged gunman because the latter has several warrants from the previous crimes attributed to him.
At least 10 criminal cases have been linked to Aves, whom police tagged as the fraternity hitman.
He has been ranked number one in the list of 10 most-wanted fraternity members in Cebu City. The Cebu City Government has pledged a reward of P150,000 for Aves’ arrest.
Comendador appealed to the public to help the police in finding Aves, who reportedly moves from one place to another.
Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Aves may text or call 09214931616, 231-5801 and 2336795.
The witness said he saw the shooter clearly as Aves allegedly pointed his gun at him before speeding away on a motorcycle driven by a companion.
“I clearly recognize the face of the gunman because there was a bright light from the nearby electric post (that time),” he said.
Witness
Sun.Star Cebu is withholding the witness’ name for his safety.
Another witness, an 18-year-old resident of Bara-ngay Hipodromo, also executed an affidavit identifying Aves as the shooter.
He was with Mahko Buenconsejo when the latter was shot dead on V. Gullas St. just a few minutes before the Sambag 1 killings.
He said he and Buenconsejo, together with five other Tau Gamma Phi members, were merely passing time outside a friend’s boarding house when Aves, on a motorcycle, arrived and opened fire.
The witness said everybody hit the ground when the shooting began but Buenconsejo was not able to react fast enough and got hit in the neck.
He said a man who happened to pass by on his motorcycle also got hit and, together with Buen-consejo, was taken to the Cebu City Medical Center.
The man, later identified as Laurence Morados, died.
The witness said he recognized Aves from cartographic sketches he was later shown by police investigators.
The police submitted additional proof to link the two shooting incidents together—the PNP Crime Laboratory’s analyses on six bullets recovered from the victims during surgery.
Same gun
The report, dated Oct. 17 and signed by Police Chief Insp. Romer Daguno, the forensic firearms examiner, declared that “the .45 caliber bullets… were fired from one and the same gun.”
The police also submitted the affidavit of a 16-year-old self-confessed inactive member of another group, Crips.
In an affidavit, the witness said that Aves tried to shoot him last Sept. 21. The incident resulted in his father and three neighbors getting injured instead.
He said he was able to get a good look at the shooter and recognized him from sketches presented to him by the police after the incident.
“We have satisfied the object of our investigation, and we have not rushed things. We have filed the case at our own pace,” Comendador said when asked if the police were hasty in the filing of the complaints. (KNR/JST)
