Cops eye 3 motives in Liloan shooting

POLICE are looking into personal grudge, gang war and love triangle as possible motives behind the early morning shooting in Barangay Yati, Liloan, northern Cebu, which resulted in the death of a 16-year-old girl and injuries to two others, including a minor, on Thursday, May 9, 2024.

Maj. Eric Gingoyon, chief of the Liloan Police Station, identified the fatality as Alyza Wagas, a resident of Looc, Poblacion.

Her two male companions, John Lloyd Intan, 18, from Barangay Catarman and a minor from Yati were wounded. They sought treatment in separate hospitals.

Gingoyon said the victims had attended a fiesta gathering in Mandaue City before briefly stopping at a convenience store with their friends. Later, unidentified motorcycle-riding perpetrators arrived and shot them.

The shooting happened at 4:10 a.m.

Gingoyon said they are still verifying information that the victims are members of the Crips gang.

“Gihulog gihapon nato og alleged kay ang katong babaye di na sad nato ma interview kung member siya unya ang duha ka bata nga naa pa sa hospital, amoa sad tong pangutan-on kung member ba sila sa Crips. Atoa sang i-confirm gyud,” he said.

(We still consider it an allegation because we were unable to interview the girl to confirm if she was a member, and the other two victims who are still in the hospital, we also need to ask if they’re members of Crips. We still need to confirm that.)

Persons of interest

Gingoyon said they found closed-circuit television cameras in the area that captured the crime; however, the perpetrators could not be identified as they covered their faces with shirts.

While persons of interests have been identified, Gingoyon said that, for now, they can only be identified by their aliases.

“Lima man gud to ka motor ang naa sa video unya naa pa toy usa ka motor nga naay angkas. So, among tan-aw ani di g’yud ni muubos og lima ngadto sa pito,” he said.

(There were five motorcycles in the video, and another one with a passenger. So, based on our observation, the number of perpetrators is not just five persons but could be up to seven persons.)

The perpetrators fled towards Compostela after the shooting and are now being sought by the authorities.

Wagas sustained injuries to her left and right chest, Intan to his left leg and chest, and Supatan to his back with four gunshot wounds.

The 16-year-old girl expired later at 7:30 a.m. at the Mendero Medical Center in Consolacion, where she was taken after the incident.

The authorities recovered 18 empty shells of unknown caliber from the crime scene.

Gingoyon said that based on the recovered empty shells, it is possible that the perpetrators used 9mm and .380 caliber firearms. / DVG, WBS