The street noise and hums of cars along Gen. Maxilom Avenue in Cebu City at past 1 a.m. today, Friday the 13th, turned eerily quiet after bursts of gunfire reverberated through the air.
The shots were fired by an unknown assailant and directed against three persons, one of whom died instantly, just outside of a fast food restaurant in the area.
SPO3 Rommel Bangcog, the duty investigator of the homicide section of the Cebu City Police Office, told Cebu Daily News that the fatality was identified as Niel Cañete Abella based on the driver’s license found on his body.
The driver’s license recorded the town of San Fernando in southern Cebu as his hometown. He was born on September 28, 1972 or was 45 years old.
His two companions, both of whom were wounded, remained unidentified and were rushed to a Cebu City hospital.
Based on witnesses’ accounts, the three victims, on board a yellow Honda Fit driven by Abella, stopped outside of the burger joint shortly after 1 a.m. and all went out to order food, said Bangcog.
They were returning to the vehicle a few minutes later when an armed man appeared and repeatedly fired at them.
The shooter then fled to a still unknown direction. Bangcog said they were still determining the motive for the killing.
However, he said, they recovered at the crime scene several items that included what were believed to be drug paraphernalia, a lighter, some cash and a cellphone.