A YOUNG man believed to be in his early 20s was found dead near a house in the mountain barangay of Lutac, City of Naga, Cebu yesterday morning.
The unidentified man was only wearing black-and-white checkered short pants. He was shirtless. He had a silver ring on his right middle finger.
Police found a gunshot in between the man’s eyes.
They also recovered an empty shell for caliber .45 pistol.
An hour before his body was discovered at 6 a.m., another man was also found slumped on a house’s doorstep in Barangay Tubod-Bitoon, Dumanjug.
Jesus Paitano, 69, died from a gunshot wound in his left abdomen.
The suspects in both killings have yet to be identified.
PO2 Jonathan Largo, who investigated the killing in Naga, said it is possible that the young man was a thief.
“Posibleng kawatan kay wa’y nakaila niya dinhi (He could be a thief because nobody knows him here),” Largo said in an interview.
Some residents in Sitio Buwabog claimed that they were awakened by the sound of a gunshot at 3 a.m.
Gregorio Bonghanoy, 57, discovered the body in his backyard shortly after he woke up and went out of the house. He said he heard a gunshot at dawn but saw nothing when he peeped outside.
Thieves
Bonghanoy told the local police that he was tending his roosters on the backyard when he saw the body.
Largo said some residents have been complaining about losing their roosters to thieves in the past few days, so, this will be among the matters to be considered in the investigation.
Supt. Jovito Canlapan, Naga police chief, said they are still trying to identify the man and to find out the motive in the killing.
Melchora Alferez, school principal of Balirong Elementary School, said she saw the man on board a motorcycle with two other men at dawn.
Canlapan urged those whose family member have failed to go home to check with the local police as they might be able to help identify the dead man.