A TRICYCLE driver and a barber were shot dead in Bacolod City Sunday and Friday, November 13 and 11, respectively, in what the police describe as crimes triggered by either retaliation or grudge.

Both victims Nilo Payo, 59, of Purok Million Flower in the city’s Barangay 34, and Bryan Diaz, 41, of Purok Zone 4, Barangay Mambulac in Silay City, Negros Occidental have been jailed for various criminal offenses, police records showed.

It added that Payo, a tricycle driver, was imprisoned for murder and was released on parole in 2007 while Diaz was accused of raping and sexually assaulting the daughter of his former live-in partner in 2021, although the case did not prosper as the victim migrated abroad.

Major Ramel Sarona, station 1 commander, said Payo was fishing at the rocky portion along the shorelines of Purok Malipayon in the city’s Barangay 35 past 10 a.m. Sunday when a lone gunman shot him at close range.

“He died on the spot from gunshot wounds on his head, body and hands,” Sarona said, adding that they do not have the identity of the suspect since the latter escaped.

Sarona added that there was no recovery from the crime scene.

On Friday, Diaz was sitting on his motorcycle outside his rented place in Purok Fortune B in the city’s Barangay Estefania around 8 p.m. when the suspect arrived on a motorcycle, alighted and shot him in the forehead.

Major Ritcheee Gohee, station 4 commander, said a video captured by a surveillance camera from a nearby establishment showed that the suspect is about five feet and three inches in height and was wearing a red helmet.

“We checked his background and he is not on the drugs watchlist of Silay City, which means, this is not drug-related,” Gohee said.