motorcycle gang, opened fire on a group of youths, wounding five persons in barangay Lorega San Miguel in Cebu City shortly before 4 a.m. yesterday.
The gunman were using an automatic pistol.Three of the victims were minors, brothers Bryan Paul, 17, and Roy Paul, 16, and Thadeo Camacho, 18. All are allegedly members of the Bloods Gang.The two other victims were Mylee Blanquero, 18, allegedly a member of the Alpha Kappa Rho fraternity and Crisanto Sanchez, 42, who was hit by a stray bullet.
Among all the victims, Sanchez is in critical condition after he was shot in the chest.Residents in the area said they were awakened and frightened by the burst of gunfire.
“We thought there was a war because of the gunfire,” a female resident said in Cebuano.According to witnesses, suspects might have used an automatic rapid KG-9 or an uzi or Ingram.Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador Jr. said these kind of firearms can be easily acquired as they can be made locally.Policemen recovered about 33 empty shells of 9 mm pistol, seven deformed slugs and one metal jacket.
Comendador, Cebu City Police Office chief, said in a radio interview that his men were checking if the incident was fraternity related since most of the victims were members of the Bloods gang.
The Camacho brothers together with other Bloods gang members only known as Jogie and Wewaks, were sitting on a folding bed along the sidewalk when suddenly a red XRM motorcycle with two men on board stopped about five meters away from them.
The backrider identified by Blanquero as Eric alias “Titing” of barangay Cogon Ramos rained the group with bullets.Blanquero said he recognized Titing as they were friends before.Sanchez, who was sitting on the doorstep of his house near the group, was also hit.Titing then fled along with the unidentified driver towards barangay Day-as.Bryan Paul was wounded in his left leg, left arm and left shoulder; Roy Paul was shot in the right leg, Camacho got hit in the left leg and chest, while Blanquero suffered a gunshot wound in the left leg.
Homicide investigator Jeffry Gutual said a revenge angle would also be looked into.
Gutual said police would check the background of both parties and see if they had previous conflicts.