A 47-YEAR-OLD taxi driver, an alleged victim of robbery, was found dead with gunshot wounds inside his parked vehicle in Sitio Ka-Isko, Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
Lt. Col. Christian Torres, spokesperson for the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, told SunStar Cebu that a concerned citizen reported the incident around 6 a.m.
He said responding officers arrived to find the body of the driver slumped behind the open wheel of a white public utility taxi, with blood stains and pieces of glass scattered around the cab’s interior.
Gunshot wounds
Torres said the victim, a resident of Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City, sustained two gunshot wounds — one to the head, believed to have been fired through the windshield, and another near the shoulder close to the heart.
Police recovered two spent shells from a .45 caliber pistol near the vehicle.
Torres explained that tattooing marks around the entry wound in the chest indicated that the shot was fired at close range.
Closed-circuit television footage shows the taxi arriving and parking between 2 and 3 a.m.
The actual moment of the shooting was not captured.
A person was seen walking near the vehicle around that time.
It remains unclear whether that individual was the gunman or a passerby.
Torres said the victim’s wallet, mobile phone, and cash were missing, strengthening suspicions that robbery was the primary motive.
Police are not ruling out other angles, including a possible personal grudge or a love triangle.
Authorities have identified a person of interest who was the subject of a hot pursuit. A witness reported that the individual escaped into the mangrove areas. / DPC