JOHN MICHAEL HERMOSO (left) and KIS TRYVL RAMOS (right)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police are focusing on two persons of interest (POI) who may shed light into the shooting incident inside a coffee shop in F. Ramos Street, Cebu City last Wednesday evening, April 9, that claimed the lives of an award-winning barista and a graduating college student.
Police Major Eduard Sanchez, Fuente Police Station chief, said they had identified two POIs, whom they believed could provide vital information about the fatal shooting incident that killed John Michael Hermoso and Kis Tryvl Ramos, and wounded two other workers of The Good Cup Coffee Company.
“We have two POIs, but we don’t want to divulge further details because the investigation is still going on, and we don’t want to preempt any follow-up operations,” said Sanchez.
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He added that they were still determining the identity of the gunman who was seen from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage shooting the victims from outside the coffee shop.
At that time, the victims — Hermoso, Ramos and two others identified as Jerome Amada and Sherwin Rivera who sustained gunshot wounds — were all inside the shop.
Sanchez said they believed that the gunman, who remains at large, could be ‘a seasoned hitman.’
He said all the six empty bullet casings from a caliber .45 pistol hit a target.
“All six bullets found from the crime scene hit a person. Hermoso and Ramos both received two gunshot wounds, so that’s four bullets. The wounded survivors — there were two of them — each received a bullet wound. So, that’s a total of six,” said Sanchez.
“And, the fact, that he was standing outside the shop, did not miss any target, and were done within a short span of time. Maybe, we’re looking at a seasoned hitman,” he added.
In an earlier interview, Sanchez said they were investigating the love-triangle and business angles as possible motives behind the incident.
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He also said they believed that the gunman’s sole target was Hermoso, and that the latter decided to shoot the three others to eliminate possible witnesses./dbs