Sunday, March 23, 2008 8 hurt in Good Friday violence
GOOD Friday did not unfold quietly for eight people, including three minors, who were injured during three stabbing and two shooting incidents in Cebu City.
Two incidents happened in a religious site that the Catholic faithful packed for The Way of the Cross, which is the Good Shepherd in Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe.
The first happened at 4 p.m., when a stray bullet hit 23-year-old Melvin C. Pacaña of Green Village, Guadalupe in the forearm.
He told Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) investigators that he and two friends were just walking when they noticed a commotion and heard gunfire.
He saw several people running toward their direction, and another shot rang out.
Moments later, Pacaña felt pain in his right forearm.
CIIB’s Senior Insp. Aileen Recla, who was detailed in the area, rushed Pacaña to Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) for treatment.
A 14-year-old boy arrived in the same hospital over an hour later, after alleged Bloods gang members stabbed him.
Homicide Section police said that Peter (real name withheld, because he’s a minor) and his friends were walking when several Bloods members blocked their way.
One allegedly asked Peter and his group if they were members of the rival Crips gang.
Before Peter could answer, however, the perpetrators allegedly rushed at them, prompting him and his friends to run away.
The attackers caught up with Peter, whom they stabbed in the back, left forearm, and left side of the body.
At dawn on the same day, a 23-year-old student and two out-of-school minors were wounded when two men fired at them at the corner of Don Pedro Cui and R.R. Landon Sts.
The Homicide Section police identified the student as Raymund P. Mangubat of Gorordo Ave., Barangay Lahug.
Mangubat was drinking with friends by the roadside when a Honda Wave motorcycle without a license plate suddenly stopped near them around 1:15 a.m.
The motorcycle back-rider immediately pulled out a gun and fired several times at Mangubat, who was hit once in the right foot.
Another victim was hit in the neck, while the other was wounded in the left finger.
All three victims were taken to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center for treatment, while the two men escaped toward Osmeña Blvd.
In Sitio Caduloy, Barangay Tisa, a man and his son were stabbed by a neighbor during an argument around 7:15 p.m.
Calixto Presbitero, 53, and his son Alfie identified the suspect as Noli Luna, 23.
Calixto also tagged three of Luna’s friends as having connived with Noli in committing the crime.
The police said Calixto and Alfie were outside their house when they figured in an argument with Luna, who pulled out a fan knife and stab them in the back.
In Belgium St., Barangay Suba 15 minutes later, a neighbor stabbed fish laborer Junjie Paso, 19, also in the back.
Paso told investigators that he was sitting on a wooden chair by the side of the road when neighbor Eljun Laborte, 19, attacked him with a knife.
The police is investigating the motive for the assault on Paso, who was rushed to the CCMC. (JST)
