A MAN believed to be a victim of “salvaging” was found by authorities near the St. Joseph Cemetery in Barangay Guizo, Mandaue City, Saturday dawn, Aug. 3, 2019.
The man, who remained unidentified as of Saturday afternoon, sustained several gunshot wounds.
He had handcuffs on his wrist when police found him around 3:38 a.m.
Based on the initial investigation of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO), the victim was walking when two men on board a black Mio scooter arrived.
Witnesses told investigators the one of the two men shot the victim and fled.
Police recovered 11 empty shells from a .45 pistol at the crime scene.
When police found the body, the victim was wearing a grey sweat shirt, white shorts. He was handcuffed.
Col. Jonathan Abella, MCPO director, said they are still trying to determine the identity of the victim.
Abella said they didn’t have a motive for the killing yet, but they suspected that the victim might have been involved in the illegal drug trade or might have been murdered for failing to remit illegal drug proceeds.
He also did not discount the possibility of a love triangle or the victim’s murder was related to his work.
Abella said the perpetrators might have had a grudge against the victim by the way they killed him.
But Abella denied that vigilantes were behind the killing or the recent spate of murders in the city. He said vigilante killers were not trying to make their presence felt.
Abella said they will conduct a background check on the victim to determine if he is a city resident.
Due to the incident, Abella ordered his personnel to conduct checkpoints every night until early dawn. (JKV)