A CARETAKER of a private parking lot was shot and killed by an unidentified gunman in Sitio Cabancalan 2, Barangay Bulacao, Cebu City, past 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 22, 2024.
The victim was identified as Juan Ordeñiza, a 63-year-old married man who lived in the said place.
Ordeñiza's friend, Francisco Tabada, claimed that the victim bought liquor from a nearby store when someone approached him and shot him three times in the head and back on his way back to the parking lot.
Police Major Jeciree Basitao, the chief of the Inayawan Police Station, stated that their preliminary investigation indicated personal grudge as the motive.
It is said that the victim got into a fight with someone over his work as the Aznar family's parking lot caretaker.
According to Basitao, some witnesses were able to recognize the offender, whom they claimed had previously been held at the Inayawan Police Station.
"Karon naa tay witness nga naka identify sa suspect. Ang atung gihimo karon mao ang hot pursuit operation," Basitao said.
(We have a witness who identified the suspect. We are now doing a hot pursuit operation).
Meanwhile, Tabada claimed he saw the offender's face but was unable to remember it.
But he said that because the crime happened in front of him, he could recognize him if he saw him again.
"Diri ko ga sandig aning paril kay gikan man ko namahaw nya gipusil man lag kalit, ang suspek galakaw ra og kung makakita ko sa nawong karon murag maka ila ko," matod ni Tabada.
(I was leaning against the fence after taking breakfast when the victim was shot; the suspect walked casually, and I could recognize him if I see him again).
One of the food vendors in the vicinity, who requested anonymity, said they had not seen the suspect because they were busy serving their customers, but admitted hearing gunfire and witnessing Ordeñiza collapse.
The victim's younger brother, who asked not to be named, expressed sadness at his brother’s passing and described him as kind and without a known enemy.
The members of the Scene of the Crime Operation (SOCO) recovered three empty shells of .45 pistol from the crime scene. (With TPT)