Indian shooting victim executes affidavit; Vice gov apologizes to consul for death of German
by Apple Mae Ta-as
Correspondent
As police continue to look for two more suspects in Friday’s dawn shooting in a McDonald’s outlet in Talisay city, the two foreigners wounded in the attack said they can’t remember the faces of their assailants because both victims were intoxicated.
This was learned from a Talisay city police investgator citing the account of Indian national Cheten Sapraiya.
SP01 Mikie Espina of the homicide section said Sapraiya executed his statement while confined in a Cebu City hospital where he was treated for a gunshot wound in the nape.
However, police have othe witness accounts that have led to the arrest of three suspects.
The Indian was discharged on Saturday while his French companion, Julian Millard, who was hit in the arm and foot is set to be released from the hospital today.
Anxious about the shooting’s impact on Cebu’s tourism industry, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale yesterday called Germany’s honorary consul Franz Seidenschwarz to extend the provincial government’s apologies for the death of 31-year-old tourist Henry Haffner, who just happened to be at the fast-food outlet with his girlfriend.
Magpale assured that authorities are doing their best to make the province safe for tourists.
“This is a fly in the ointment but we still need to do something,” she said.
The shooting happened after a chance encounter with local toughies. Sapraiya and Millard were having a meal at McDonald’s about 4 a.m. when two men allegedly started taunting them.
One told the Indian: “dili magpautang … pautanga mi, Turko (He won’t lend us money… loan us money, you Turk)” The derogatory remark refers to the local stereotype of Indians in the Philippines as loan sharks.
Heated words were exchanged. The two men left the restaurant and came back with at least three armed men on motorbikes.
Haffner, who was standing outside ran into the restaurant to hide with his girlfriend. He was chased and fatally shot.
SP01 Espina said Sapraiya denied he was engaged in money lending. He said the Indian, who was married to a Cebuana and living in Talisay for three years, was engaged in computers.
“Ingon sa Indian, hubog daw kaayo sila ug maglisod na identify sa mga suspects nga nipusil sa ilaha. Dili na sila maka-hinumdum sa mga nawng (The Indian said they were drunk at the time and can’t remember how their assailants looked like),” Espina said.
Police are zeroing in on the two local men who allegedly harassed the foreigners. They remain at large.
Out of five assailants, three are in custody.
A special police task force is now after a certain Tata and Mac-Mac, said SP01 Espina.
Tata, the gunman, was captured on videotape by a CCTV camera.
Police formed Special Investigation Task Group Heffner which held case conferences since Sunday.
The task group has teams from the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (RAIDSOTG), Regional Intelligence Unit, Talisay City Police, Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) and the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB).
A Cebu Daily News source said the suspects were gang members allegedly working for a local “drug lord” who operated in sitio Neighborhood of Talisay.
The wide publicity of the case, however, prompted the drug lord to leave the city since he was made him a “hot target”.
SP01 Espina said criminal complaints will be filed today against the three arrested suspects.
Allan Veloz, the first suspect arrested Friday night, will be charged with murder, two counts of frustrated murder and illegal possession of firearms.
Veloz denied the allegations, but two witnesses had identified him. Investigators said Viluz served as a lookout. The gun found in his house in barangay San Isidro in Talisay City was submitted to the crime laboratory for ballistics tests.
Suspect Ricci Ramirez, whom police identified as a “backup gunman” was arrested at home in Talisay city on Saturday afternoon. Police said he admitted shooting the German.
The third detained suspect, Roger Cal, was identified as the driver of the motorcycle was used by the gang in their getaway.
“This is considered solve in a sense na nakuha natin yung ibang perpetrators of the crime. Pero yun na nga yung dalawa, hinahabol pa natin (We consider the case solved as we already got the perpetrators and we’re just running after two others),” said Chief Supt. Prudencio Bañas, director of the Police Regional Office 7.
Bañas said the slain German, Haffner, was not the target but was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
He said suspect Ramirez told investigators that they were just told that the target was “puti (Caucasian)” and shot Haffner when they saw him in the restaurant.
Sheila Gimutao, the German’s girlfriend, earlier said Haffner and the Frenchman target were both wearing white shirts and a Fedora hat. /with reports from Correspondents Jhunnex Napallacan and Victor Anthony Silva
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